With unmatched enthusiasm about rocks, sundials, minute archaic creatures in the ocean and Mars, Bill Nye the Science Guy opened the Spacevision 2011 conference like only Bill Nye the Science Guy could do.
Bill Nye, former science guy and current CEO of The Planetary Society, answers a question after giving the opening keynote speech of the 2011 National Space Exploration Conference. Nye addressed topics ranging from global warming to solar sails and stressed that the students attending this conference would be the ones to, "dare I say it? Change the world," Nye said. (CU Independent/Robert R. Denton)
Every year, the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) host a national space conference. This year, the Spacevision 2011 conference committee and SEDS-USA brought together more than 50 speakers, including Bill Nye, to address the effects of the aerospace industry on the future.
Making his second appearance in 2011 on the University of Colorado campus, Bill Nye was the keynote speaker Thursday night for the conference. Students, conference attendees and local fans filled Glenn Miller Ballroom, and waited patiently with anticipated excitement to hear from the science icon.
Riley Pack, a 23-year-old electrical engineering graduate student, saw Nye when he came to campus last February. Pack said he was looking forward to Nye’s speech.
“I went to his talk last year and I thought it was great,” Pack said. “He’s going to be more focused on space than the last talk and I am really excited.”
Nye was an important part of many students’ first science learning experiences. He taught kids science in a way that stuck with them through his television show and brought over 400 people out to from the CU community see him speak.
After watching his show as a kid, Preston Zimmerman, a sophomore film studies major, said he wanted to see what Nye was really like.
“I always remember the wacky, goofy stuff he did,” Zimmerman said. “It will be interesting to see him now that I’m older. I’m really excited to see him speak.”
Nye’s television persona wasn’t the only draw to the speech. The conference will be addressing issues on space exploration, which led students like Shelby London, a 19-year-old sophomore psychology major, to spend her weekend at the conference.
“Bill Nye was a part of my childhood,” London said. “But I’m interested in what the future will bring [in space exploration] and what his ideas for the future are.”
Wearing a neon orange watch and a space-themed bow tie, Nye gave a brief, playful history lesson about space. He taught the colors of the shadows from the sky, which transitioned nicely into sundials and their importance to our exploration of other planets, such as Mars.
While playfully joking, Nye continuously encouraged students to stick with their passions and change the world.
“Everything that happens affects you, and, as I like to say, ‘our place in space,’” Nye said.
Nye also talked about discovery and students’ role in the search for knowelege.
“The joy of knowing is what makes us human,” Nye said. “We’re hoping to have a rebirth in human exploration.”
After his speech, he held a short Q&A session where students asked questions like, “If you could take the first one-way mission to Mars, would you?” Some questions were a little more offbeat, like, “Do awesome people wear bow ties or do bow ties make people awesome?”
Bill Nye has recently taken on the role of the executive director of The Planetary Society, which is “the largest public space organization in the world,” according to its website. Devoted to space exploration and finding life outside of Earth, The Planetary Society say they aim to help further space exploration and science education.
“Space exploration reaches, if I may, beyond the sky,” Nye said. “It changes the world.”
Spacevision 2011 will continue to discuss the aerospace industry and its effects on the future through Sunday at the Millennium Hotel in Boulder.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Crystal Anderson at Crystal.anderson@colorado.edu.
