NASA research scientist Joel S. Levine will present a lecture titled "Human Exploration of Mars: Why Mars? Why Humans?" to celebrate Carl Sagan Day on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public; a ticket is required for entry.

A veteran of the space program, Levine will discuss the latest discoveries about Mars, the prospects for a manned mission to Mars and the need to send humans to the Red Planet.

Levine served as a senior research scientist at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia for 41 years and was recently inducted into the NACA and NASA Langley Hall of Honor. At the start of his career, Levine developed models of the atmosphere of Mars for NASA's Viking mission, the first to land a spacecraft on Mars and send images of the surface back to Earth; Sagan also worked on the Viking mission. Over Levine's career, he has been a leading expert on Mars and vocal advocate for future space missions to the planet, including manned missions.

"Space exploration is inspiring, humbling and unifying," said Jeffry Halverson, CCU associate professor of religious studies and event organizer. "I wanted to help bring a free, public talk on this fascinating subject right here to Coastal and the entire Grand Strand community. Maybe one of the students in attendance will walk on Mars as a NASA astronaut someday."

The lecture marks CCU's first Carl Sagan Day event on what would have been the 83rd birthday of the late cosmologist, astronomer and public science advocate. Organizers plan to make the celebration an annual event that brings prominent scientists and scholars to speak on campus about space exploration and cosmology.

The event was funded with contributions from different CCU academic units, faculty members, alumni and individuals around South Carolina, the country and abroad. Fundraising for the free annual lecture series is ongoing, and a Carl Sagan Day Fund has been established in CCU's Office for Philanthropy.

Free tickets to the event may be obtained at the Wheelwright Box Office, located at 108 Spadoni Park Circle on the main Conway campus. Contact the box office at 843-349-ARTS (2787) or visit between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Halverson at 843-349-2974 or jhalverso@coastal.edu.