Jon Rask, NASA’s Space Life Sciences Training Program Director at Ames Research Center, will provide a free public presentation on “The Intersection of Space and Home: How Our Experience in North Dakota Shapes the Nation's Space Program.”

Are we alone in the Universe? Does life exist on other planets and moons? Could humans really live on the Moon or Mars? As we expand our understanding of the limits of life and develop technologies to support the establishment of human colonies outside of Earth, our past and current experiences in North Dakota are yielding important clues to answering these age-old questions. After having explored some of the coldest, driest, and most remote places on planet Earth, the importance of “home” is as important as ever for NASA Scientist Jon Rask. Hear how our ancestors, frontier lifestyles, farming, ranching, the prairie, cold winters, and even the Bakken formation are influencing our Nation’s space program. 7:00 pm in Russell Reid Auditorium of the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum