Cornell University’s Jim Bell thanks attendees June 10, 2010, and hints at what the evening has in store during a private reception before his public presentation. Bell is an associate professor in Cornell University’s astronomy department and lead scientist on the Pancam color-imaging system used by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed in 2004 on the surface of Mars. Chris Raymond photo
Anything involving exploration of unknown worlds gets my blood coursing, and I replied, “Absolutely!” even though I had no clue who Dr. Bell was. Courtesy of Google, however, I soon familiarized myself with his many accomplishments and looked forward to this opportunity. Senior Editor Rich Talcott and his wife, Evelyn, also planned to attend this event at the Milwaukee Public Museum’s Daniel M. Soref Planetarium on June 10.
I arrived a bit late that evening due to snail-pace traffic caused by the Cubs-Brewers game at Miller Park, but I soon discovered my worry and impatience was unnecessary; the private reception to which we were invited was still in full swing. No sooner did I arrive, in fact, then Bob Bonadurer, director of the museum’s IMAX theater and planetarium, and Karen Kancius, director of corporate relations, graciously thanked me and Rich for the longtime support both Astronomy magazine and Kalmbach have provided.
During the next hour, about two dozen of us enjoyed heaps of hors d’oeuvres and an open bar in the museum’s Garden Gallery. Many, including Rich and I, also queued up to have Dr. Bell sign one of his books. We both purchased Postcards from Mars, although quite a few bought Mars 3-D, which includes nifty built-in 3D glasses to view the book’s images. During the reception, a woman sitting nearby introduced herself after overhearing me ask Rich if he’d read Postcards from Mars (he had). She proudly showed me several copies of the book she carried, noting that she’d grown up with Bell in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Ironically, she happened to be visiting a friend in Chicago when she discovered Bell would be in Milwaukee, so she drove the 90 minutes northward to see him.
Astronomy magazine Senior Editor Rich Talcott (left) and Dr. Bell during a pre-presentation book signing at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Chris Raymond photo
Several things struck me during Bell’s engaging discourse. Foremost was his evident pride, both as a scientist and as a member of a team that helped envision, construct, and implement devices that enabled human beings to explore an alien world. Second, as someone who works with words, I appreciated how effectively he distilled complex concepts — in astronomy, physics, geology, technology, etc. — into understandable analogies for a lay audience. For instance, Opportunity landed on a martian surface littered underfoot with 2–5mm spherical balls of unknown mineralogical origin. During its travels, the rover found these same “bluish BBs” embedded in native rock, which Bell showed via Opportunity’s photos. Rather than get complex, he simply likened this phenomenon to a “blueberry muffin,” noting that experts believe the muffin portion erodes, dropping blueberries on the surface, something everyone understood. (In fact, the woman sitting directly behind uttered “Oh my, yes” after this and most of Bell’s comments this night!)
Finally, Bell displayed something I appreciated most of all — a simple passion for just how cool the NASA Mars Exploration Rover mission is on a visceral “geek” level. Born 4 years before Armstrong stepped on the Moon, I’ve eagerly followed the Apollo program, the Pioneer and Voyager probes, the space shuttle program, etc. I cherish my copy of the August 1998 issue of National Geographic, featuring the 3-D images of Mars. Even though I’ve long since accepted that the closest I’ll get to any alien world is when I fly somewhere at 30,000 feet, I still dream of how amazing it would be to be the first to step foot anywhere. While Jim Bell and I remain decidedly earthbound, it’s reassuring to know that I’m not alone in my desire.
Although I joked that the current issue of Astronomy focused on Pluto rather than Mars, Dr. Bell still graciously added his John Hancock to its cover, as well as to the title page of his book Postcards from Mars. Bell is an avid reader of Astronomy, telling me that he hadn’t read this issue yet. Chris Raymond photo
Fighting vertigo again as I descended to the vomitorium (yes, that’s a real word!) and exited the theater, I bade Rich and Evelyn goodnight before heading back to my lowly earthbound Honda. Once home, I crawled into the sack, my mind racing with the awesome images and info I’d experienced this evening until I finally drifted to sleep.