2022 Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering & Reception 4 October 2022 1400 - 1700 (Eastern Daylight Time) National Academy of Engineering, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC, USA | Virtual

This lecture is free and open to the public.

2022 Award Recipient:
Robert D. Braun
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL)

“Are We Alone? Grand Challenges in Solar System Exploration”

The lecture will discuss the search for signs of past or present life beyond Earth, a profound human endeavor that has occupied a place in our consciousness since humans first looked skyward. Braun will discuss how this quest requires an advance in space exploration capabilities, technologies, and knowledge that also informs our future on our home planet and the pace of human exploration beyond it. After decades of hard work, and through an interconnected set of missions, NASA stands poised to address this timeless question along multiple arcs. Braun will describe the scientific opportunities, locales, technologies, and missions from which we may advance our understanding of the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. The goals and present status of multiple astrobiology missions planned for the next decade will be highlighted.

About the Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering

The Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering was established in 2013 in memory of Yvonne Brill, pioneering rocket scientist, AIAA Honorary Fellow and NAE member. She was a trailblazer at a time when women were not encouraged to enter the science and technology fields. The Lecture emphasizes research or engineering issues for space travel and exploration, aerospace education of students and the public, and other aerospace issues such as ensuring a diverse and robust engineering community. This biennial lecture is held at the National Academy of Engineering building in Washington, DC, in October.