Beyond Earth: Author Amanda Hendrix to talk planetary science Nov. 29

Note to Reporters: More information about Amanda Hendrix and Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Planets available at http://lib.colostate.edu/about/news/2016/hendrix

FORT COLLINS — Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, is a realistic prospect for human life beyond Earth, according to author Amanda Hendrix. Although some may consider space colonization science fiction, Hendrix will discuss the realities of living on new planets this month in Fort Collins.

 

Hendrix, author of Beyond Earth: Our Path to a New Home in the Planets, will be speaking as part of the Evening with an Author Series on Nov. 29, 7-9 p.m., at the Fort Collins Marriott, 350 E. Horsetooth Road. An expert in the fields of solar system astronomy and planetary science, Hendrix worked for 12 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

 

This event is free and open to the public, doors open at 6:30 p.m. No tickets are required; seating is provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. There will be a book sale and signing after the program.

Beyond Earth is based on the political, bureaucratic and scientific obstacles of space travel, as well as the human capacity for invention. In this book, Hendrix argues that Titan, with its own weather cycle and an atmosphere of nitrogen, offers a realistic opportunity for life beyond Earth.

 

Hendrix was a NASA astronaut candidate in 2000. She served as Deputy Project Scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission from 2010 to 2012, and is a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute.

 

Among other achievements, Hendrix has appeared on several episodes of The Universe on the History Channel. She received her bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and her master of science and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering studies from the University of Colorado Boulder.

 

The Morgan Library’s Evening with an Author Series is presented and sponsored by CSU’s Friends of the Morgan Library and the Poudre River Friends of the Library. The Fort Collins Marriott, KUNC Radio, Old Firehouse Books, the Liggett Family Endowment and the City of Fort Collins Fort Fund also support this series.