Dr. Moogega “Moo” Cooper, an astronomer and lead planetary protection engineer for Mars 2020, will speak at UNC Pembroke on February 21.
The talk will be held at Upchurch Auditorium at the Thomas School of Business, beginning at 7 p.m. Her visit is part of the 2022-2023 UNCP Distinguished Speaker Series and is free for students with a UNCP ID. Admission is $10 for the general public. For tickets, call 910.521.6361. Tickets can be purchased online.
“It’s very exciting to have Dr. Cooper visit UNCP,” said Abdul Ghaffar, assistant dean of students. “It isn’t every day we have a real-life Guardian of the Galaxy come to campus.
“In her role as planetary protection engineer at NASA, she is a role model for women, people of color and anyone who dreams of working in science and technology or even NASA one day,” Ghaffar continued.
Cooper will conduct a fireside-chat style interview with UNCP physics professor Dr. Quinton Rice.
The planetary protection lead of the famed NASA 2020 Mars mission and its highly viewed landing on February 18, 2021, Cooper is responsible for keeping the red planet safe from Earth’s contaminants.
After graduating from high school at 16, Cooper studied physics as an undergraduate, received a master's degree from Hampton University and, at 24, earned her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Drexel University with a dissertation on spacecraft materials.
She has received numerous awards, including the NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal and JPL Voyager Awards for Technical Leadership. She has appeared on the TV series King of the Nerds, Bill Nye Saves the World, and the current series How the Universe Works on Discovery.
The Distinguished Speaker Series also featured Sterlin Harjo, director of the TV series Reservation Dogs, award-winning actor Tatanka Means, former UNCP student-athletes Pardon Ndhlovu, Melanie Grooms Garrett and Carlos Berdecia and UNCP alumni Trey Allen, Calstain Ganda and Veronica Hatton.
Dr. Cooper’s visit is presented by Campus Engagement and Leadership and co-sponsored by the Chemistry and Physics Department.