Exploring Mars:
A Rover’s Eye View
Saturday, June 13, 2026
8:00 – 11:00 PM
Exploring Mars: A rover’s eye view explores the past, present, and future of Mars exploration, focusing on the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers studying the Red Planet. Join guest speaker UNLV Professor Elisabeth (Libby) Hausrath, a scientist on both rover missions, for a 35-minute program about ongoing Mars research and discoveries.
The program will be followed by stargazing, kids activities, and telescope viewing.
What to Bring:
- Warm clothes (the desert gets chilly!)
- A red flashlight (to protect our night vision)
Elisabeth (Libby) Hausrath attended Brown University, where she received her ScB in Geology-Chemistry, with Honors, Magna Cum Laude. She received her PhD from Penn State University in Geoscience and Astrobiology, where she was an NSF Graduate Fellow working with Dr. Susan Brantley studying basalt weathering on Earth and on Mars. She received a NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship to work at NASA Johnson Space Center with Dr. Douglas Ming, where she began to study phosphate mobility on Mars. She became an Assistant Professor at UNLV in 2009 and was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2015, and promoted to Full Professor in 2021. Here at UNLV, together with her graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, she studies geochemical interactions on Earth and on Mars. She and her students use a combination of laboratory experiments, field work, and geochemical modeling to understand geochemical interactions, and she has published in journals including Science, Nature, Science Advances, Nature Geoscience, Nature Communications, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Geology, and others. Her research impacts a variety of diverse disciplines, including terrestrial geochemistry, planetary geochemistry, biogeochemistry, astrobiology, and others. She has previously served as the UNLV Geoscience Undergraduate Coordinator (3 years) and the UNLV Geoscience Graduate Admissions Coordinator (3 years) and is now currently serving as the UNLV Geoscience Undergraduate Coordinator. She is a Participating Scientist on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover and a Co-I on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover.
Ready for More Stargazing in 2026? We Need Your Help!
Our 2025 Star Parties were a massive success, bringing over 1,200 people together under the beautiful dark skies of Red Rock Canyon. This year, we’re planning even more opportunities to connect our community with the cosmos, but we can’t do it without you!
We are launching a fundraising initiative to support our goal of achieving the Urban Night Sky Place designation from DarkSky International.
Your donation will directly fund:
- Expanded Programming including night hikes and more frequent star gazing parties
- Essential Supplies like lighting, informational materials, and equipment to run safe and engaging star parties
- Educational Presentations from expert speakers on astronomy, light pollution and more
- Scientific Data Collection in order to successfully complete our application
- Lighting retrofits to meet Dark Sky guidelines
Help us make 2026 our biggest and brightest year yet! Your support lights the way for conservation, education, and the protection of Red Rock Canyon’s breathtaking night sky.
Donate today and help us preserve the night sky experience at Red Rock Canyon!
Photo credit: Ben Robertson
Donate to the Project
Learn More
For details on the definition of an Urban Night Sky Place and eligibility criteria, visit the Dark Sky International website:
