Dr. Porco holds the prestigious position of command of the Cassini-Saturn mission's cameras. Those amazing photos-that's her doing. Her top-drawing multimedia show explains future goals and past accomplishments. She will also discuss astrobiological implications of Saturn's moon Enceladus. She has won numerous awards and accolades and is in demand as a scientific movie consultant and TV commentator.

Dr. Dan Durda is a planetary scientist atnthe Southwest Research Institute in Boulder. A multi-talented Renaissance Man, Dan also holds a pilot's license, is a major space artist, and is an expert underwater cave diver. He also hiker, spelunker and geologist. He will speak being named an astronaut and other opportunities afforded by the new private suborbital vehicles, like SpaceShip 2.

Tom Prettyman is a co-investigator on the DAWN mission, scheduled to orbit the two largest asteroids, Vesta and Ceres, beginning in July. Dr. Prettyman's experiment is GRaND, the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector, which will determine surface composition. DAWN uses an exotic propulsion method Dr. Prettyman will detail.

Bill Hartmann has written several widely-used astronomy textbooks, and also illustrated them. He has written hundreds of magazine articles and essays. He is widely known for his 1960s Doctorate thesis on the moon's origin; spun off as debris from a violent planetary collision with Earth--ridiculed back then, but widely accepted now.

Adam Block has a BS in Astronomy and Physics. His passion for astronomy began at the age of three. He now shares the Universe through public speaking, captivating audiences at the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter with the largest telescope in Arizona for public observing programs. He is also internationally recognized as one of the top astrophotographers in world with thousands of published images.

Sy Liebergot was a Mission Control Flight Controller. He's the only Mission Control flight controller, from the Apollo era, who is speaking to the public about his space experiences during those times. His autobiography, (left) is still available. Clint Howard portrayed Sy in the Apollo 13 film which dramatized the events of the exploding oxygen tank to which Sy had to respond at his EECOM console.

Al McEwen is principal investigator (PI) for the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter's HiRise camera, (designed by Peter Smith) the finest planetary imaging camera in the solar system. Able to view rover tracks on the surface, incoming spacecraft IN COLOR, Dr.McEwen has terabytes of incredible photos. It would take nearly 50 years to show them all.

Peter Smith is an optics whiz who originally designed the stereo camera for the Pathfinder/Sojourner Mars lander in 1996. He has been doing the (amazing) cameras for most Mars spacecraft ever since, and NASA awarded him as P.I. (head dude) of the Phoenix Mars Polar Lander, which dug up fresh ice on Mars.

Jay Gallentine is the author of Ambassadors From Earth, the fifth in the Outward Odyssey series detailing humankind's expansion into space, edited by Colin Burgess,(below.) The book deals with robotic probes sent into space, from Sputnik in 1957 to Voyager 2 in the mid-1970s. The next book in the series "Touching Infinity" expands on unmanned probes from 1976 to the present.

Andrew Chaikin is best known as author of A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts, regarded as the definitive account of the moon missions. This acclaimed work was the main basis for (Emmy award winning) Tom Hanks' 12-part HBO series.From the Earth to the Moon. Apollo moonwalker Gene Cernan said of the book, "I've been there. Chaikin took me back."

Rob Pearlman is the editor and founder of collectSPACE.com, the leading online publication, resource site and community for space history enthusiasts. Since 1999, collectSPACE has been the go-to website for space collectible information, space history, authentication, appraisals, and advice.

Colin Burgess is editor of the Outward Odyssey series from University of Nebraska press. It is a multi-volume, multi-year project telling the in-depth story of humankind's effort in space. The first books Into That Silent Sea covers 1961-1965, and In the Shadow of the Moon are by Burgess and Francis French. The third, Ambassadors from Earth is by Jay Gallentine, above.

Dr. Mark Robinson is principal investigator for the LROC, an amazing instrument, that for the first time, has imaged small features on the moon, such as a natural bridge, and all 6 Apollo landing sites.

Dr. Robert Pappalardo is a Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He is the Project Scientist for the Jupiter Europa Orbiter mission, Dr. Pappalardo's research focuses on processes that have shaped the icy satellites of the outer solar system, especially Europa and the role of its probable subsurface ocean, and the possibility of finding life there.

Ron Woods dressed Jim Lovell in his spacesuit for Apollo 8 in 1968. Now he is in charge of the stowage and removal of all flight equipment on shuttle flights. He has an affinity for the under-appreciated spacesuits, which often find their way into his world-class artworks, each telling a silent story; a few of which are featured in the art show.

Dr. Travis A. Rector is a research scientist at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Some years ago, he started to make color composite images from telescopes at the observatory, a practice he continues today. He also makes many of the color images from the Gemini Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile.

Carolyn Shoemaker has found more than 800 asteroids and 32 comets. Her co-discovery, with husband Gene and David Levy, of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1993, was most curious: The comet was ripped apart by gravitational forces on a near collision with Jupiter in 1992. A string of 21 icy fragments continued in orbit until impacting the planet in 1994.

Dr. Wiliam V. Boynton is a professor of Planetary Science at LPL here at the U of AZ in Tucson. His chemistry background has led to studies of elemental properties of meteorites, characterizing conditions in the early solar nebula and most recently discovery of water on the moon and Mars.

Mark V. Sykes is a planetary scientist who discovered comet dust trails and a number of dust bands associated with asteroid collisions. He is co-investigator of the NASA Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres, which arrives at Vesta in August, 2011. He is now CEO and director of the Planetary Science Institute, with satellite branches across the country.

Alan Gould was the director of the Lawrence Hall of Science Planetarium in Berkeley, CA from 1998-2010. where he started as a planetarium operator nearly 40 years ago. He is also a co-investigator for the Kepler mission, NASA's first mission capable of finding Earth-size planets around other stars. It is currently in use, and has found several small worlds. Dr. Gould will discuss the findings.

Nancy Muleady-Mecham is an Adjunct Professor who has recently returned from teaching at Gorno-Altaisk State University and conducting research in the Russian Federation on a Fulbright Scholarship. She will discuss Astronomy in Siberia including amateur and cultural ties Russian and indigenous people have to the night sky. There will also be a special look inside the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Center at Star City.

From Soviet-era Venus balloons to advanced studies of blimps and airplanes for Mars and Titan, Michael Carroll surveys ideas for exploring alien skies. He will also explore the weather on other planets and moons, from the acid-laden winds of Venus to the methane- rain-soaked skies of Titan. Artist/writer Michael Carroll is a Fellow in the International Association of Astronomical Artists. He has over twenty books published on science-related subjects.

Anthony Pizzatola is the vice-president and a former director of the UACC. He has been with the organiztation for 30 years. He has just published a signature study of Neil Armstrong, the most-requested autograph of any living person. However, he stopped signing years ago, and his signature is often forged by experts seeking to make four or five figure swindles. Pizzatola explains how arm yourself against fraud.

In addition to heading up our SPACEFEST speaker section, Dr. Mike Joner uses his own skills as a public speaker and lecturer to continue his popular talk series entitled "How do we know that?"

Michael Cassutt writes for print and TV. His nonfiction books include the biographies of Apollo's Deke Slayton and Tom Stafford: Deke! and We Have Capture. He also wrote Who's Who in Space.

Michael has a regular column, "The Cassutt Files" on SciFi.com, the website of the science fiction channel. He is also an adjunct professor at the famed USC film school.

The Mars Science Lab is a $2.3 Billion, car-sized, heavy rover, scheduled to launch in August. Nicknamed "Curiosity" it is designed to settle the question "was/is there life here?" Among other experiments, it has an arm, a laser zapper, long range-long lifetime, and an RTG (nuclear) generator for power and warmth on its "butt" instead of the problematic solar panels used up to this point.

George Whitesides: Where to begin? A graduate of Princeton, and a Fulbright scholar; He was Chief of Staff at NASA after serving on President Obama's transition team. Before that, he was Chief Executive of NSS, and a co-founder of Yuri's Night. He was a board member of Astronomers Without Borders and the Space Generation Foundation. He has served as a coach for Zero Gravity Corporation's parabolic flight service, and is himself a licensed pilot.

Rick Searfoss is a former NASA Space Shuttle commander and pilot, a veteran off three shuttle missions. He is now a test pilot for XCOR Aerospace, a small, Mojave Spaceport-based company producing the Lynx, a sub-orbital 2-seat commercial Spaceplane, and provides its own rocket engines and associated hardware to the aerospace industry.

Jani Radebaugh studies the geology of three major Solar System moons: Jupiter's volcanic moon Io, Saturn's largest moon Titan, and our own Moon. She gleans information from space probes like Galileo (Jupiter) Cassini (Saturn) and the numerous Moon probes. Dr. Radebaugh is a graduate of the prestigious Planetary Science program here at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor and Deputy Head of the U of A Astronomy Department, in charge of all academic programs. His research interests are observational cosmology, gravitational lensing, astrobiology and the evolution and structure of galaxies. His talk will focus on astrobiology- "In Search of Life in the Universe" and what forms it might take. Are we alone? Does our intelligence make us unique or just special? A multimedia experience

Leonard David has been a space journalist for some 45 years. Currently, he is SPACE.com's Space Insider Columnist, as well as a correspondent for Space News newspaper. He will be covering Spacefest. Leonard has served as editor-in-chief of the National Space Society`s Ad Astra and Space World magazines, as well as the newsstand publication Final Frontier.

Jim Scotti is a planetary scientist and operates the Spacewatch telescope on Kitt Peak, which scans the night sky looking for NEOs (Near Earth Objects) and comets, cataloging and keeping track of objects which could collide with Earth. Jim has discovered 9 comets with Spacewatch, and several hundred of the 824 Near-Earth Asteroids discovered with the telescope.

J. Terry White is an aerospace consultant in the fields of hypersonics, gas dynamics, aerodynamic heating and atmospheric entry. In his career that spans nearly 4 decades, he has authored over 180 technical papers. He has contributed to numerous programs including the Space Shuttle , the Navy STANDARD Missile Program and NASA X-43A Flight Test Project. He also has an extensive background as both an aerospace educator and aerospace historian.

Mark Larson is Chairman of the Board at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. With a broadcaster's voice, he not only hosts a Southern California radio talk show, but has done commercials and programs via more than 2,000 radio and TV outlets worldwide. With the San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association, Mark served as President for a record eight consecutive terms. Radio & Records twice named him to its "All-Star Players" list, citing him as one of only twelve "local legends" in American talk radio.