Montshire’s Conversation and Performance Series Explores
the Intersection of Science, Space, and Culture
This March, the Montshire Museum of Science will host Montshire Talks: Space! — a conversation and performance series that examines the intersection of science, space, and culture.
Every Tuesday in March, at 6:30pm, come to the Montshire to engage with scientists, scholars, and artists. Discussions will cover topics that range from our quest to visit Mars or build satellites in Vermont to a pop culture look at how space influences film and music, featuring an out-of-this-world musical performance.
Montshire Talks Schedule
Exploring Mars: The Next Steps
Jay Buckey, MD, Former Columbia Space Shuttle Crew Member
Tuesday, March 5, 6:30pm
Mars has fascinated humans for centuries. But how can we make dreams of exploring Mars a reality? Former astronaut Dr. Jay Buckey discusses what draws us to the Red Planet and what it will take to enable humans to travel to Mars.
Asteroids and Celluloid: Space in Film
Moderated by Johanna Evans
Tuesday, March 12, 6:30pm
From the early days of silent films to the glossy blockbusters of today, space continues to capture our cinematic imaginations. These movies offer beautiful imagery, daring adventure, and a meaningful story made more powerful with the backdrop of outer space. Moderated by the Hopkins Center Film Programming and Operations Manager Johanna Evans, go boldly where many filmmakers have gone before, as we discuss space and movies with great minds and film buffs of the Upper Valley.
From Video Games to Satellites:
The Evolution of a Career and a CubeSat Program
Carl Brandon, PhD
Tuesday, March 19, 6:30pm
For years, Dr. Carl Brandon at Vermont Technical College, his colleague, Dr. Peter Chapin and their students have been working on miniaturized satellites called CubeSats for use in space research. In fact, they launched a CubeSat that is considered the only successful satellite of any kind launched by a college on the East coast of the United States. Dr. Brandon’s work has spanned the sciences, from developing video games to studying bat flight aerodynamics. How does a career in science evolve, from physicist to rocket scientist? And how do you use this rich and varied experience to cultivate a successful CubeSat program?
Explorations in Sound and Vision:
A Musical Performance by Sound of Ceres
Tuesday, March 26, 6:30
Sound of Ceres (featuring members of Candy Claws, Apples in Stereo, and the Drums) is an audio/visual experience with sounds ranging from 1960’s exotica to majestic, synthesizer-adorned, future horizons. Light projections and fiber optics pierce the darkness and smoke, creating a web of ever-changing constellations. Stars, circles, and double-helixes dance around the band, bouncing off reflective costumes and outstretched hands. Responding fluidly to each unique environment where they perform, Sound of Ceres transports the audience into the heart of the great cosmos via a mystifying display of lights and effects, coupled with hypnotizing sound.
About the Montshire Talks Guests
Dr. Jay C. Buckey, Jr., is a professor of medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and an adjunct professor at the Thayer School of Engineering. Dr. Buckey flew in space as a payload specialist astronaut on the STS-90 Neurolab mission in 1998. He completed 256 orbits of the Earth and logged 6.3 million miles aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. With 30 years of experience in aerospace physiology and medicine, he now leads the Space Medicine Innovations research lab at Geisel and is the author of Space Physiology, an award-winning textbook used in universities in the U.S. and U.K.
Johanna Evans is the Film Programming Manager at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. She earned a BA in English (Creative Writing) at Dartmouth College in 2010 and an MA in Literature and Social Justice at Lehigh University in 2012. She continues to pursue both of those interests when she’s not singing, building Legos with her son, and seeing as many movies as possible.
Dr. Carl Brandon’s diverse background — from working on a cyclotron and early video games, to flying airplanes and launching satellites — has led him from IBM to Vermont Technical College. With a PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dr. Brandon has been teaching at Vermont Tech since 1977. Having received 30 NASA grants for their projects, Dr. Brandon and team constructed a CubeSat that was launched in an Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket in November, 2013. It was in orbit and operational for 2 years, making it the only successful satellite of any kind launched by a college on the East coast of the United States.
Sound of Ceres features members of Candy Claws, Apples in Stereo, and the Drums. The various members of Sound of Ceres combine ideas and energies to fashion their magical world. Everything they create together—words and music, video, live performance art— interlocks to tell a rich and unique story.