As the millennium closed, so did the era of large planetary spacecraft that were launched once per decade. Future robotic spacecraft will have a wide range of capabilities, diverse mission objectives, and be launched almost one per year. Among the many types of missions, some will be the landers and sample return missions of tomorrow. To meet these bold endeavors, these ambassadors from Earth will require advanced mission concepts, new operational approaches, as well as technologies that have yet to be developed.

To organize this effort, the United States robotic planetary exploration program has been divided into the following themes:

• Earth


• Mars


• Solar System


• Universe

Dr. Randii Wesson will come to your home and give a presentation describing each of these areas, the major missions currently in operations, and those being planned. It will also have a special emphasis on the quest for extra-solar planets and the search for life in the cosmos. The presentation is great for all ages — from 5 to 95.

Dr. Wessen has been an employee of the California Institute of Technology’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for twenty-seven years. He is currently the Deputy Manager of the Project Formulation Office. Prior to this Dr. Wessen was the Navigator Program System Engineer. This program’s goal is the detection of Earth-like planets around other stars, if they exist. He also was the Telecommunications & Mission Systems Manager for the Mars Program, the Supervisor for the Science System Engineering Group, Manager of the Cassini Science Planning & Operations Element, the Galileo Deputy Sequence Team Chief, and the Voyager Science Sequence Coordinator for the Uranus & Neptune encounters.

Terms and Conditions: Presentation location must be within a 50 mile radius of the Pasadena area. Please redeem by the end of April 2019.