"Mars Mania" is coming tomorrow to celebrate the UA's extensive involvement in Mars exploration.
The event is scheduled to include a star party, a 3-D planetarium show and speeches by UA scientists.
Professor Alfred S. McEwen, the principal investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, will be speaking in the Manuel T. Pacheco Integrated Learning Center, Room 120 at 6:30 p.m. HiRISE is a hi-resolution camera and telescope that launched for Mars on Aug. 12 as part of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The event will also include a tour of the HiRISE operations center, called HiRoc. HiRoc is the heart of HiRISE, serving as the camera's control base and photograph-processing camera.
Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium will have two 3-D planetarium shows showcasing images taken from the Mars rover Opportunity. The show will be free to CatCard holders. Every other mania event is free to the general pubic, with exception to the star party, which will require a $1 donation to Flandrau.
Peter Smith, the principal investigator of the Phoenix Mars Mission that is slated to launch in 2007, will speak after McEwen.
The star party, on the lawn at East University Boulevard and North Cherry Avenue, will give participants a chance to view stars, including the sun, which can be seen through eye-safe telescopes. Scientists will be on hand to answer questions and talk about space.
Children's activities will include a robotics competition and a Mars polar region demonstration involving free snow cones. Children's activities begin at 3 p.m. in the ILC.
Other exhibits will include Cassini-Huygens Mission demonstrations and actual space shuttle hardware. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., the company that has built equipment for UA space missions, will also have a display.