Watson Lecture - Thirteen Years in the Dust: How a Robot Showed that Mars Was Once Habitable, with Ashwin Vasavada

▶ Register for Ashwin Vasavada's Watson Lecture

About the Talk

Was life ever possible on Mars? The Curiosity rover, equipped with the most sophisticated scientific payload ever sent to the Red Planet, reached Mars in 2012 to find out. Join Ashwin Vasavada (PhD '98), project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory, which delivered Curiosity safely to the surface, as he recounts the rover's journey up the slopes of a Martian mountain whose rocky layers hold a record of the ancient past. He'll also share a behind-the-scenes look at the triumphs and challenges that are a part of the mission's legacy. The Curiosity rover is operated from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed by Caltech for NASA.

Evening Schedule

6 p.m. — Activities and music. Food, drinks, and books available for purchase.
7 p.m. — Doors open.
7:30 p.m. — Talk and Q&A.
8:30 p.m. — Post-talk concessions and conversation.

The live event is in-person and a recording will be made available on our Youtube channel.

About the Series

For more than 100 years, the Watson Lectures have brought the wonder of Caltech research and discovery to the public.

Free and open to the public, the Watson Lecture Series offers a unique and accessible opportunity to learn more about cutting-edge science directly from Caltech's premier researchers. Come early to mingle with your neighbors over food, drink and music, as well as interactive displays related to the evening's topic. Then head inside to hear a stimulating talk and stay to ask your burning questions.

Many past Watson Lectures are available on Caltech's YouTube channel.