Toronto's Live Curiosity Landing Party

Sunday, August 5, 2012 8:00 PM - 2:00 AM | Hotel Ocho
Kids' Program 6:00pm - 8:00pm

At 1:30am Eastern, August 6th, Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover will land on Mars (on the long weekend, no less). And if the $2.5 billion mission doesn't end in a spectacular crash, the landing will look something like this. Curiosity is one of the most complex pieces of robotic awesomeness we've ever sent beyond the Moon. It's on an extraordinary mission, employing Canadian technology, and its landing is a great reason to celebrate. And so we shall.


Kids Program!

Before the main event starts at 8pm, we're having an awesome kids program from 6pm, complete with Curiosity egg-drops, arts and crafts, a real robotic rover built by the York University Rover Team, and other fun activities. Tickets for the kids event are five bucks, and dinner will be available for order at the hotel's restaurant. Please note, parental supervision is required.

 

This will be a PlanetFest live-stream event, featuring:

  • Live play-by-play video and narration of the spacecraft's descent and landing, plus a peek at the first images returned from the mission
  • Live commentary, interviews and social media chat opportunities from leaders in space exploration, including Bill Nye The Science Guy, see schedule below for more.
  • Edible and alcoholic deliciousness for purchase from Hotel Ocho's menu and bar — and unmitigated, unapologetic overdoing of our Mars theme.
  • Interactive XBox Live + Kinect Curiosity Landing Simulator.


Event News / Press | Click Here

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Venue location

Hotel Ocho
195 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M5T2C5


Parking

There is no parking on site, however there is street parking, a lot directly south of the building, as well as an underground municipal lot approximately one and a half blocks north. There is also a large BIXI lot on site.


Accessibility

Note that the venue is NOT wheelchair accessible. There is an elevator in the event space, but there are several steps at the entrance of the venue.



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Schedule

6:00 - 8:00 pm Kids' Program
8:00 pm Doors Open
8:15 pm Mars Direct | Bob Zubrin (Mars Society)
8:40 pm Postcards from Mars | Jim Bell (TPS/ASU)
9:05 pm Rockets to Robots | Mark Sirangelo (Sierra Nevada Corporation)
9:30 pm ON SITE History of Mars Exploration | Randy Atwood, Editor, Space Quarterly
10:00 pm ON SITE How we put a LEGO man in space | Asad Muhammad, Mathew Ho
10:45 pm Create, Educate, Advocate | Bill Nye (The Planetary Society)
11:15 pm JPL Leadership | Charles Elachi and TBD
11:35 pm The Planetary Society & Mars | Bruce Betts (The Planetary Society)
12:00 am Start of the JPL/NASA Feed
12:05 am - 1:31 am NASA Live Feed + Calls with MSL science team
1:31 am Curiosity Lands on Mars
Check back for more updates