The Department of Physics of the University of Malta in collaboration with the Malta Committee of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and the United States Embassy will be hosting two talks by Senator Harrison Schmitt.
On 22 April at 6.30pm Senator Schmitt will speak in the Erin Serracino Inglott Hall of the university about “A scientist on the moon – Apollo 17”.
The second lecture, in Room 401 of the Mathematics and Physics Building of the university, the talk at 6.30pm will be on “Space exploration and exploitation”.
Attendance to both talks is free of charge and open to the public. The talk which is being held on the Wednesday is intended for the public while the talk on Thursday is aimed at persons with an interest in space exploration and the audience would ideally include academics and science students over the age of 16 years, although members of the public with a science background and an interest in the topic are also welcome.
Those wishing to attend are encouraged to register by sending an email to physics.sci@um.edu.mt, with the date or dates of their selected talk/talks in the subject caption.
Following the presentations Senator Schmitt will take questions from the audience, who are requested to be seated at least 15 minutes before the scheduled start.
Senator Schmitt, an author, is a geologist who was involved in NASA’s Apollo space programme. He was the lunar module pilot of the Apollo 17 mission and is the only scientist ever to travel to the moon. Following this mission, Senator Schmitt was appointed a Professor of Engineering Physics, became a US Senator, chairman of the NASA advisory council, founder and chairman of Interlune Intermars Initiative Inc.