Dr. Porco's team released the first images of the earthlike geological features of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in 2005. Due to its similarities, Titan is sometimes referred to as Earth's frozen analog. More recently, Dr. Porco and the CICLOPS team have focused their attention to the study of Enceladus, another of Saturn's icy moons, and what appear to be underground reservoirs of liquid water and spectacular geysers of a type similar to that in Yellowstone National Park. In March of this year, a 50 km flyby confirmed that organic materials, heavier and more complex than methane, are present in the vapor that emerges with these visible jets. These reservoirs could therefore be suitable for living organisms, and if confirmed, expands our list of solar system environments hospitable to life forms.

Carolyn Porco has had an extraordinary career. She received her PhD from Caltech in 1983 from the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, after which she joined the faculty of the University of Arizona and the Voyager Imaging Team. In 1990 she was selected as the Imaging Team leader for the Cassini-Huygens mission and Director of the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS). She is also currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. As an imaging scientist on the Voyager mission in the 1980s, she was a co-originator of the idea to take a 'portrait of the planets' with the Voyager spacecraft, and participated in the planning, design, and execution of those images in 1991, including the famous Pale Blue Dot image of Earth. In 1999, she was selected by the London Times as one of the '18 scientific leaders of the 21st century', and was awarded the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2008 by the American Humanist Association. She has co-authored over 80 scientific papers. In addition to her work with CICLOPS, she is also an imaging scientist on the New Horizons Pluto/Keiper Belt mission scheduled to arrive at Pluto in 2015.

Dr. Porco served as an adviser for the 1997 film Contact, based on a novel by the late astrophysicist and astronomer, Carl Sagan. She is currently a planetary science and imaging advisor to the special effects team on the upcoming Star Trek film currently scheduled for release in 2009. In addition, her three-part lecture series "Beyond Belief – Science and Religion," which discusses the intersection of her own spiritual journey and the science of astronomy, can be found on YouTube.

Join Dr. Porco and others at the Convention in August as we gather for her awe-inspiring presentation and display of the stunning vistas of Saturn and its moons, all part of one of the most ambitious planetary exploratory expeditions ever undertaken.

REGISTER NOW FOR A SPECTACULAR CONVENTION!
WHERE: Back to where it all began in 1998: University Memorial Center, University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.
WHEN: August 14-17, 2008
REGISTRATION: Available online
HOTEL INFORMATION: Available online
SPEAKERS: We have an impressive list of knowledgeable, inspiring speakers already scheduled:

• J. Michael Straczynski (Creator of Babylon 5) - Tentative
• Dr. Alan Stern (former Associate Administrator, NASA Science Directorate)
• Dr. S. Pete Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF, ret.; NASA Ames Research Center Director)
• Elon Musk (Founder and CEO of SpaceX)
• Dr. Jim Garvin (Chief Scientist, NASA Goddard)
• Dr. Carolyn Porco (Cassini Imaging Team Leader)
• Dr. Chris McKay (NASA Ames Research Center)
• Dr. Carol Stoker (NASA Ames Research Center)
• Dr. Bill Clancey (NASA Ames Research Center)
• Dr. Matt Mountain (Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute)
• Dr. Michael Simpson (International Space University)
• Geoffrey Yoder (NASA - Director, Directorate Integration Office - Exploration Systems Mission Directorate)
• Joe Cassady (Aerojet: Director for Business Development in Emerging Space markets)
• George Whitesides (Executive Director, National Space Society)
• Dr. Robert Zubrin (President and Founder, The Mars Society)
• Dr. Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) Tentative
• Brother Guy Consolmagno (Vatican Observatory; Curator, Vatican Meteorite Collection)
• Dr. Ted Peters (Co-Editor: Theology and Science; The CTNS Journal of Science and Religion)
• Dr. David Spires (Senior Instructor, University of Washington)
• Dr. Michael Simpson (President, International Space University)