Campus Connection

A conference at UW-La Crosse aims to educate people about outer space and the latest tools used to peer into this great unknown. Learn about rockets, the latest telescopes and more during the 21st Annual Wisconsin Space Conference Thursday, Aug. 18 and Friday, Aug. 19, at the UW-L Cartwright Center. This is the third time UW-L will host the statewide conference, this year themed “Seeing Farther From Space.” Highlights of the conference include two keynote speakers. Jonathan Gardner, deputy senior project scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, will talk about this next generation telescope with plans to be launched into orbit 1 million miles from Earth in 2018. It is being built to look at the first galaxies that formed the early universe. Robert Gehrz, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Minnesota –Twin Cities, will present “Infrared Astronomy with NASA’s New Spitzer Space Telescope,” the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space, which allows scientists to view regions of the universe hidden from optical telescopes such as centers of galaxies and newly forming planetary systems. The conference is sponsored by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium each year awards grants and scholarships to students and faculty to do space-related studies. The conference is open to the public. Conference fees are $75 for the general public and $45 for students and K-12 teachers. Find more information and registration details. If you go— What: Wisconsin Space Conference Where: UW-L Cartwright Center When: Thursday, Aug. 18 and Friday, Aug. 19 Admission: $75 for the general public and $45 for students and K-12 teachers