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Contact – MA Space Week 2025 Space Film Festival Evening # 4 [with Open Captions] (Main) In-Person
Join us for a special MA Space Week 2025 Space Film Festival screening of Contact, followed by an expert panel discussion exploring the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, interstellar communication, and the intersection of science and policy.
About the MA Space Week Space Film Festival
The MA Space Week Space Film Festival is a statewide celebration of space in cinema, featuring films that highlight the wonders of space exploration, astronomy, and our place in the universe. Each screening is paired with expert insights, making space science accessible and engaging for all audiences. This year’s Massachusetts Space Week theme, "Life in the Universe", explores humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life. Contact, based on Carl Sagan’s novel, is the perfect film to spark this discussion.
- Date:
- Thursday, April 24, 2025
- Time:
- 5:30pm - 8:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Lecture Hall
- Branches:
- Main Library
- Audience:
- Adult
- Categories:
- Feature Film Screening STEAM
A distinguished panel of experts will discuss the real-world science and implications of Contact:
Panelists:
- Aubry Davis – Deputy Director of Academic Programs, U.S. Air Force Academy, specializing in space policy education.
- Bill Diamond – President & CEO, SETI Institute, leading research on astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Gabriela Radulescu – Guggenheim Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, specializing in the history of Soviet SETI and radio astronomy.
- Melissa Sampson – VP of Business Development, Orbit Fab, working on in-space refueling for sustained space operations.
- Charity Weeden – NASA Associate Administrator, focusing on space policy, security, and international cooperation.
This discussion will be moderated by Alissa J. Haddaji, Founder & Director of The Space Consortium and MA Space Week.
What is Massachusetts Space Week, organized by The Space Consortium?
Massachusetts Space Week is an annual, week-long celebration that seeks to bridge the gap between academia and the broader community and to foster a shared enthusiasm for space science, through engaging events such as a Space Film Festival, a Space Career Fair, and more than 25 space events statewide.
Launched in 2017, The Space Consortium is an MA-based, space academics & researchers-led 501(c)(3) non-profit and public charity, which organizes a series of space education & outreach initiatives, including Massachusetts Space Week and The Space Consortium (SC) Space Days, to help democratize space knowledge and connect MA-based space experts and enthusiasts with each other and with the public. Supported by the Massachusetts Space Grant, Massachusetts Space Week and The SC Space Days stand as testaments to grassroots collaboration & community effort among space experts across the state, aiming to make space science accessible to all.
Please find below useful links:
📢 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spaceconsortium
📢 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceconsortium/
📢 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-consortium/
Please find here our dedicated webpage of all public libraries space events organized during MA Space Week: https://spaceconsortium.org/space-week-schedule/libraries/
Please find here the MA Space Week Attendee Information form: https://forms.gle/UvBDU4G3T4dRNMrm9
And here, our full program website page: https://spaceconsortium.org/space-week-schedule/
The City of Cambridge does not discriminate, including on the basis of disability. We may provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to people with disabilities. For more information contact us at library@cambridgema.gov, 617-349-4032 (voice), or via relay at 711.