Starman

Starman: The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Especially Earth)

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?”

About the Film: 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.

ONE SHOW ONLY! Wednesday, February 11 @ 7:30PM in Avalon 1

About the Speakers:

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.

Science on Screen® launched at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA in 2005. In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and its pioneering nationwide film program, the Coolidge has expanded Science on Screen to 122 cinemas nationwide. Throughout the academic year, SoS creatively pairs screenings of classic, cult, science fiction, and documentary films with lively presentations by notable experts from the world of science and technology. Each film is used as a jumping-off point for a speaker to introduce current research or technological advances in a manner that engages popular culture audiences—enhancing film and scientific literacy through film.