Figge To Offer Talk About UI Space Program
Davenport, IOWA (August 2012) The Figge Art Museum will present the talk "University of Iowa Space Pioneers: 54 Years of Exploration" at 7pm on Thursday, August 16. The talk, presented by University of Iowa Professor Don Gurnett, will highlight the University's contributions to the space program and introduce the audience to the University of Iowa objects included in the NASA | ART companion exhibition, University of Iowa Space Pioneers: 54 Years of Exploration. This talk is offered in conjunction with the current exhibition NASA | ART 50 Years of Exploration and is free with paid admission or museum membership. University of Iowa alumni who present their Alumni Association membership card will also receive free admission to this talk.
The University of Iowa is considered a pioneer of space research and has received international recognition for the development of spaceflight instruments flown on more than 63 successful missions. Professor Gurnett is the James A. Van Allen/Roy J. Carver Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Prof. Gurnett specializes in the study of space plasma physics and has participated in over 30 spacecraft projects, most notably the Voyager 1 and 2 flights to the outer planets, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Cassini mission to Saturn. He is the author or co-author of over 650 scientific publications and has received numerous awards for his research. Gurnett regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa. In 1998 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2004 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration presents an unparalleled selection of works commissioned by the NASA Art Program. Ranging from the illustrative to the abstract, more than 70 diverse artworks highlight the accomplishments, setbacks, and sheer excitement of space exploration over the past five decades.
NASA | ART 50 Years of Exploration was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in cooperation with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The exhibition is sponsored locally by ALCOA, John Deere and Cobham, plc. The Smithsonian Community Grant program, funded by MetLife Foundation, is a proud sponsor of this public program.
-END-
