SeeCalifornia.com

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, CALIF.–A new event sponsored by National Park Service  (nps.gov) invites the public to Death Valley this weekend to study the similarities between Planet Earth and Mars.  “Mars and the Mojave Festival” held March 9-11, 2012 includes three exciting days of exploration with guest lectures, expos,  give-aways, field trips and night telescope viewing of planets at Furnace Creek Airport.

The barren landscape of Death Valley (shown in photos above,) almost devoid of vegetation, evokes the red planet’s surface.The dry, but not completely rainless climate is similar to conditions on Mars three billion years ago. Other-worldly features like the Badwater salt flat and Ubehebe Crater embody the extreme environments in which scientists seek the building blocks of life on other planets.

Mars Festival includes:

FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012

• Curiosity on Mars, by Dr. Chris McKay from NASA Ames Research Center, a member of the Mars Science Laboratory team.
• Telescope viewing of Mars, Jupiter, and other astronomical objects.

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012

• Mars Science Laboratory NASA mission instruments and experiments from Curiosity Mars Rover.
• Scientist-hosted field trips to analog sites Mars Hill and Badwater salt flats.
• Expo on the lawn of the park’s newly renovated Visitor Center with NASA centers, universities, and non-profit organizations.
• Mini-Curiosity Rover demonstrations, scientist talks, and free souvenirs.
• Lectures and an evening panel with in-depth perspectives on planetary research in National Parks and around the globe, as well as a discussion about the relevance of space science.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

• Field Trip to Ubehebe Crater.
• Talk on the future of planetary exploration, on earth and beyond.
• Lecture from research expert

For more information, contact Death Valley NP Education Specialist Stephanie Kyriazis at (760) 786-3226. If you can’t make it out to the desert for this event, be sure to consider taking a petroglyph tour at China Lake.