The Carl Sagan Center for Planetary Science is a NASA research center,[note 1] named after famous astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan.
History[]
In 2003, Kelly Baldwin is working at the center on a project to detect microbial life on Mars. She and her team are using a kinematically enhanced robot called "Spot", developed by Dev Ayesa's new robotic company, which they train to find signs of life in lava tubes around the Korolev crater in the northern polar plain on Mars.[1]
After the Kronos disaster, NASA shifted all their resources on righting M-7's Asteroid Capture Program. NASA administrator Eli Hobson visited Kelly at her workplace at the Sagan Center to tell her that her project would not receive further funding at this time, although he called it an only temporary delay. Subsequently, Kelly teamed up with Aleida Rosales, who had just quit her job at NASA, and the two decided to find private investors for her project, which they called S.E.E.K.E.R..[2]
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
A "Carl Sagan Center for Planetary Science" does not exist in reality, however, it appears to be referencing to either the Carl Sagan Center or the Carl Sagan Institute, or maybe to both.
The "Carl Sagan Center", part of the SETI Institute and founded by NASA, is devoted to the study of life in the universe, and part of its research thrusts are astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Its headquarters are in Mountain View, California.
The "Carl Sagan Institute: Pale Blue Dot and Beyond" is dedicated to the search for habitable planets and moons in and outside the Solar System and the instruments to search for signs of life in the universe. It is located at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 It is not entirely clear whether the "Carl Sagan Center for Planetary Science" is a sole NASA facility, or if NASA only funds some of its projects. However, Kelly's experiments are seen to take place in a hall with the NASA logo on the wall, and the whole project seems to be funded by NASA only, so the former can be assumed.
See also[]
- Other NASA facilites:
- Cobb Space Center (CSC, formerly JSC)
- Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
- Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
- NASA Flight Research Center (Edwards AFB) (FRC)
- McMurdo Station (NASA annex)
External links[]
Carl Sagan on Wikipedia- Carl Sagan Center on Wikipedia
- Carl Sagan Institute on Wikipedia
References
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 4, episode 2, "Have A Nice Sol"
- ↑ For All Mankind TV series, season 4, episode 3, "The Bear Hug"