Explore Universe Deep In Ground

LOS ALTOS, CA -- If we only knew what Earth looked like in the deep confines of her inner sanctum.

Attendees of a NASA talk at Foothill College can with a 7 p.m. presentation by Ames Research Center Astrobiology Director Penelope Boston titled "The Worlds Under Our Feet: Caves from Earth to Mars and Beyond." the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos Hills.

As part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series at Foothill College in its 19th year, the non-technical discussion will be hosted by the Smithwick Theater at the Los Altos Hills college.

New exploration indicates that caves on rocky and icy worlds in the Earth's solar system may be more common than originally thought. Caves below the Earth show a very different planet than the one on the surface. Each dark cave system has its own micro-organisms and distinctive mineral and chemical properties.

Boston should know. She served as the associate director at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute and as a professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Her research areas include geo-microbiology and astrobiology in extreme environments.

The lecture is co-sponsored by:

• The Foothill College Physical Science Division
• The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
• The SETI Institute
• NASA's Ames Research Center

The event is free. Parking costs $3 on campus.

Foothill College is located off the El Monte Road exit from Interstate 280 in Los Altos Hills. For directions and parking information, see foothill.edu/parking. For a campus map, see foothill.edu/map.

--Image courtesy of Foothill College