Feb 11
Avalon Theatre Washington, DC
TicketsGentry Lee
Chief Engineer For Planetary Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Film Subject
andRobert Stone
Director
moderated byJason Dick
Editor-in-Chief, CQ Roll Call; Podcast Host
Starman— The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Especially Earth)
Program Description
Gentry Lee, Chief Engineer for the Solar System Exploration Directorate at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, filmmaker Robert Stone and series host Jason Dick discuss STARMAN, Stone’s movie about exploration of space and other planets, guided by Lee, a scientist, author and pioneer who’s been there since the beginning. Among the biggest questions pursued, as Lee says, is “What does that say about the planet where we live?”
Film Synopsis
Legendary NASA robotics engineer Gentry Lee has spent a lifetime seeking an answer to the ultimate cosmic question: Are we alone in the universe?
Are we alone in the universe? For over half a century, legendary NASA engineer and best-selling science fiction author, Gentry Lee, has explored every aspect of this question in the realms of space science, robotic exploration and the human imagination. At age 82, he has come to a revelatory conclusion.
About the Speaker
Gentry Lee serves as the Chief Engineer For Planetary Exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. With a remarkable career spanning over fifty years, he has played a pivotal role in nearly all of America’s interplanetary missions, starting with his essential contributions to the Viking mission to Mars in 1976, which marked the first successful landing on another planet. In collaboration with the late Carl Sagan, Lee co-developed and produced the acclaimed 1980 television series, Cosmos. Additionally, he is a best-selling science fiction author, renowned for co-authoring the Rama series with Arthur C. Clarke, along with numerous other novels.
Robert Stone is an Oscar® nominee for Best Feature Documentary and a three-time Emmy® nominee for Exceptional Merit in Documentary filmmaking, and has won dozens of awards for his work over the past 35 years. Among his notable films are RADIO BIKINI, GUERRILLA: THE TAKING OF PATTY HEARST, EARTH DAYS, and the epic 6-hour documentary series “Chasing the Moon.”
Jason Dick is the editor in chief of CQ Roll Call and the host of its Political Theater podcast.He has also worked at National Journal and for the AmeriCorps program, and is a former English teacher at the university and high school levels. A one-time screener for the SXSW Film Festival, he is a native of Arizona and lives on Capitol Hill.