Following a 205-day journey, NASA’s InSight Mars Lander is set to touch down on Mars to begin a thorough exploration of the planet’s inner space – and the landing will be streamed live at Qatar National Library this Monday, 26 November. The InSight Mission will be NASA’s first Mars landing since 2012, and will be watched live by millions worldwide.
The event will start at 10 pm, with a lecture by Dr Essam Heggy on planet landings. Dr Heggy is a Research Scientist in the Earth and Planetary Sciences and a member of several Space Missions. Attendees will have the chance to have a live conversations with scientists from NASA about the landing and the wider mission. The landing is scheduled at 11 pm (Doha time).
Astronomy enthusiasts, students, scientists and the general public are invited to attend the event by registering online in advance, and collecting access cards from the Library. Since the event will take place after hours, attendance will not be possible unless access cards were collected in advance. The event is part of the Library’s Science Book Forum, chaired by Dr Heggy.
Dr Nouf Khashman, Outreach and Community Engagement Manager at QNL, said that providing diverse learning opportunities is a fundamental part of their work at the Library.
The Science Book Forum enables young learners to foster skills that will help them pursue careers in science. Such events play an important role in encouraging discovery and imagination among the youth in Qatar.’
According to Dr Heggy, every landing is a challenging moment for the whole space science community.
Insight will try to answer crucial scientific questions on Mars interior and how it is different from our planet. This will bring new insights on Mars formation and evolution that remains largely unconstrained.’
The Library will close at 8 pm on 26 November, and will re-open for the event at 9:30 pm. Click on this link to register online. To find out more about the Science Book Forum, visit the QNL website.
