Panel DiscussionMADAME MARS: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond

25. März 2021, 18.00 Uhr – in englischer Sprache
in Kooperation mit dem U.S.-Generalkonsulat Hamburg und dem U.S.-Generalkonsulat München

As a new space age dawns, have women come far enough to go farther than they ever have before? Madame Mars tells the story of the challenges women have faced while trying to study and explore Mars, from early space age pioneers to those currently working to get humans to Mars. The film is populated by accomplished, intelligent and curious women who not only share the dream of finding one’s own place in space, but also a commitment to the ensuring that humanity will represent itself accurately and completely as we take our next big step out into the universe.

The panel participants will share their insights into challenges women continue to face on their journey to space and how they wish to succeed in empowering girls and young women to pursue an education and career in STEM fields and receive training as astronauts and aeronautical engineers. Over 560 people have traveled to space, but only 11% are women. Women represent 20-22% of the space industry workforce, which is on par with the percentage from 30 years ago. Overall, women are still an overwhelming minority in many university engineering programs.

The film will be presented on the virtual cinema screening platform EVENTIVE. Please register here with EVENTIVE to view the film: https://watch.eventive.org/americanfilmshowcase/play/60553da630cefe009486d63a
(You will have to register with EVENTIVE in order to pre-order the documentary. This will be for free. After registering successfully, you will receive an e-mail confirmation.) A watch window will be available from Saturday, March 20 to Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Participants can view the 32-minute film as often as they would like during the watch window. The film will be in English.

On Thursday, March 25, 6:00 PM (18:00 hrs. German time) join us for a conversation about “Women in Science / Women in Space Exploration”. The one-hour conversation will be in English and can be directly accessed on YouTube.

 

The panelists:

Jan Millsapps, Professor Emerita of Cinema at San Francisco State University, is a veteran filmmaker, a pioneering figure in the new media movement, an early web innovator, and a versatile writer. She has produced films, videos, and interactive media on subjects ranging from domestic violence to global terrorism, has been a featured blogger for Apple, Huffington Post and Thrive Global, and has written two space-themed novels. Her recent documentary, Madame Mars: Women and the Quest for Worlds Beyond, premiered at the United Nations in Vienna and has been shown at Puerto Rico’s famed Arecibo Observatory, the University of Cambridge in the U.K., the New York Academy of Sciences’ Global STEM Summit, and at numerous film festivals, winning first prize, professional documentary, at the 2019 Raw Science Film Festival in Los Angeles. Millsapps has spoken about the need for diversity in space at several Mars Society Conventions, the United Nations in New York, and the SETI Institute. She is a founding member of the global Space for Women support and advocacy network.

Dr. Mariana Wagner is an astrophysicist and a music producer from Hamburg, Germany. During her doctoral research, she worked on numerical simulations in the field of Earth-like extrasolar planets. Today she focusses on connecting the worlds of astronomy and media, especially music. Her show Sound of Space premiered on September 2019 in Planetarium Hamburg. Her main objective is to wake enthusiasm for everything space and to make those topics more accessible to young people, especially girls, by connecting astronomy and media production.

Prof. Thomas W. Kraupe, Director of the Planetarium Hamburg, is an astrophysicist who for many years served as officer and president of the International Planetarium Society. He helps initiate regional and global initiatives to engage earthlings of all ages in STEAM fields and for the future of our spaceship earth. He has also made a name for himself as a consultant and producer for new immersive spaces and art-science projects in planetariums, museums, expos and theme parks. Thomas serves as member of the Executive Committee of the German Astronomical Society, the board of trustees of the Deutsche Museum in Munich and the German Section of The Club of Rome.