Courtesy of the Solar System Ambassadors, join astrobiologist Dr. Morgan Cable from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as we dive into the Ocean Worlds of our Solar System and beyond to seek out extraterrestrial life.

Speakers:

  Dr. Morgan Cable "is a Technologist in the Instrument Systems Implementation and Concepts Section at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.  She is also the Assistant Project Science Systems Engineer for the Cassini Mission, which has been exploring the Saturn system for over 10 years.

Morgan’s research focuses on organic and biomarker detection strategies, through both in situ and remote sensing techniques.  While earning her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, she designed receptor sites for the detection of bacterial spores, the toughest form of life." 

  Daniella Scalice has been the Education and Communications Lead for the NASA Astrobiology Program. As such she supports astrobiologists to engage in outreach, oversees curriculum development, provides content to media and educational outlets, and delivers programs to educators and students all over the world. In 2005, Daniella developed the NASA and the Navajo Nation project, an ongoing, NASA-funded initiative wherein cultural and scientific knowledge about our origins are brought together into new classroom materials for Navajo teachers and summer field camps for Navajo students. She believes these two ways of knowing the world have more in common than not, but leaves the making of connections between the two up to the learner. Daniella holds a BS in Molecular Biology from UC Santa Cruz, and pursued an MA in Film at Humboldt State University. She currently lives in Annapolis, MD, but her heart is in the Southwest, especially New Mexico where she and her husband have a small farm.

Resources:  Check out these ready-to-go, hands-on activities from the National Informal STEM Education Network’s Explore Science: Earth and Space toolkit designed for museums!

• Exploring the Universe: Imagining Life is a hands-on activity in which visitors imagine and draw an extreme environment beyond Earth, then invent a living thing that could thrive in it. They learn that NASA scientists study extremophiles on Earth to imagine the variety of life that might exist elsewhere, and make predictions about where to look for it.
• Exploring the Solar System: Ice Orbs is a hands-on activity in which visitors investigate a frozen orb, trying to learn about objects hidden inside. Participants learn that planetary scientists at NASA are investigating "icy worlds" in the outer solar system, looking for evidence of liquid water and possible signs of life beneath the icy surface.

Other Resources:

• Europa Lander SDT Report
• Astrobiology Education Materials Website
• Famelab! Website
• NASA Wavelength - Cassini
• NASA Wavelength - Astrobiology
• NASA Space Place - Cassini

This special resource has been made available to all viewers.  Please note that (free) membership is required for full access to the Museum Alliance site; please visit Join Our Community to learn more.