Trinity University is excited to host another Space Week from April 2-8 to celebrate the total solar eclipse that will pass directly through Texas on April 8. A total solar eclipse won’t be visible from the contiguous United States again until 2044.
To commemorate this rare phenomenon, Trinity is providing its students, faculty, staff, and local community with two events that honor and explore the human-space relationship.
On April 2 at 5:30 p.m. in Dicke Hall 104, Space Week will kick off with a panel discussion between Jim Perschbach, CEO of the Port of San Antonio, and Sam Ximenes, CEO of Astroport Space Technologies, about "San Antonio’s Global Role Harnessing the Promise of Space.” Through Perschbach’s leadership at the Port of San Antonio, the Tech Port innovation campus has become a nationally important destination for advanced technologies, including aerospace, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure resiliency, defense, manufacturing, and global trade. Ximenes is a space architect with more than 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry with NASA, DoD, and international space programs. Together, they will discuss exciting programs right here in San Antonio that will play an important role in harnessing the promise of space.
On April 4 at 7 p.m. in Laurie Auditorium, Ellen Stofan, Ph.D., Under Secretary for Science and Research at the Smithsonian Institution, will give the Distinguished Scientist Lecture on “Sustaining Earth From Space.” In addition to the Smithsonians’ science and research centers, Stofan oversees the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, Smithsonian Scholarly Press, and Scientific Diving Program, as well as the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Stofan has over 25 years of experience in space-related organizations, including her time as chief scientist at NASA from 2013-16. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and she was named one of “CNN’s Extraordinary People of 2014.”
Smithsonian scientists are at the forefront of conservation research, tying ground-based observations to critical observations from space. In her lecture, Stofan will discuss current efforts to create a more sustainable planet and how space data are critical to the effort. Come learn about the Smithsonian’s work monitoring real-time air pollution over the United States, tracking animal movement and vegetation in Africa, and more.
For more information about Space Week events, visit events.trinity.edu.
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