ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Carolyn Porco: Could a Saturn moon harbor life?

Carolyn Porco : Une lune de Saturne pourrait-elle abriter la vie ?

Filmed:
1,054,733 views

Carolyn Porco nous fait partager de nouvelles découvertes envoyées par la sonde Cassini lors de son récent voyage près d'une des lunes de Saturne, Encelade. Les relevés effectués à partir des geysers glacés de cette lune indiquent qu'un océan sous sa surface pourrait abriter la vie.
- Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

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Two yearsannées agodepuis here at TEDTED
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Il y a deux ans, à TED
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I reportedsignalé that we had discovereddécouvert
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j'avais indiqué que vous avions découvert
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at SaturnSaturn, with the CassiniCassini SpacecraftVaisseau spatial,
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sur Saturne, avec le vaisseau spatial Cassini,
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an anomalouslyanormalement warmchaud and geologicallypoint de vue géologique activeactif regionRégion
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une région anormallement (?) chaude, et géologiquement active
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at the southerndu sud tippointe of the smallpetit SaturnineSaturnine moonlune
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à la pointe sud de la petite lune Saturnienne
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EnceladusEncelade, seenvu here.
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Encelade, que l'on aperçoit ici.
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This regionRégion seenvu here for the first time
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Cette région que l'on a découvert pour la première fois
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in the CassiniCassini imageimage takenpris in 2005. This is the southSud polarpolaire regionRégion,
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sur une image prise par la sonde Cassini en 2005. Voici la région polaire sud.
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with the famouscélèbre tiger-stripeTigre-stripe fracturesfractures crossingtraversée the southSud polepôle.
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Avec les fameuses fractures qui traversent le pôle sud.
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And seenvu just recentlyrécemment in lateen retard 2008,
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Et nous avons d'autres images, à la fin 2008,
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here is that regionRégion again,
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voilà la même région,
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now halfmoitié in darknessobscurité because the southerndu sud hemispherehémisphère
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maintenant à moitié dans l'obscurité car l'hémisphère sud est
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is experiencingéprouver the onsetdébut of AugustAoût
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soumis au début du mois d'août
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and eventuallyfinalement winterhiver.
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et donc de l'hiver.
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And I alsoaussi reportedsignalé that we'dmer madefabriqué this mind-blowingépoustouflant discoveryDécouverte --
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J'avais aussi annoncé que nous avions fait cette découverte incroyable --
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this once-in-a-lifetime-Lifetime discoveryDécouverte
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une découverte unique dans une vie --
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of towerings’élevant jetsjets
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de colonnes de jets
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eruptingl’éruption from those fracturesfractures at the southSud polepôle,
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qui étaient projetés par ces fractures au pôle sud,
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consistingcomposé of tinyminuscule watereau icela glace crystalscristaux
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composées de minuscules cristaux de glace d'eau
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accompaniedaccompagné by watereau vaporVapor
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accompagnés par de la vapeur d'eau et des composés organiques simples,
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and simplesimple organicbiologique compoundscomposés like carboncarbone dioxidedioxyde and methaneméthane.
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tels que le dioxyde de carbone et du méthane.
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And at that time two yearsannées agodepuis
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Et à l'époque, il y a deux ans,
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I mentionedmentionné that we were speculatingspéculer
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j'avais mentionné que nous nous interrogions pour savoir
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that these jetsjets mightpourrait in factfait be geysersgeysers,
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si ces jets pouvaient en fait être des geysers,
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and eruptingl’éruption from pocketsles poches
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et provenaient de poches
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or chamberschambres of liquidliquide watereau underneathsous the surfacesurface,
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ou de chambres d'eau liquide se situant sous la surface.
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but we weren'tn'étaient pas really sure.
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Mais nous n'étions pas vraiment sûrs.
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HoweverCependant, the implicationsimplications of those resultsrésultats --
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Cependant, les implications de ces résultats
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of a possiblepossible environmentenvironnement withindans this moonlune
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d'un environnement possible sur cette lune
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that could supportsoutien prebioticprébiotique chemistrychimie,
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qui pourrait abriter une chimie pré-biotique,
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and perhapspeut être life itselfse --
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et peut-être même la vie,
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were so excitingpassionnant that, in the interveningintervenant two yearsannées,
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étaient si passionnants que pendant les deux années qui se sont écoulées depuis,
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we have focusedconcentré more on EnceladusEncelade.
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nous nous sommes concentrés sur Encelade.
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We'veNous avons flownvolé the CassiniCassini SpacecraftVaisseau spatial
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Nous avons fait voyagé la sonde Cassini
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by this moonlune now severalnombreuses timesfois,
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près de cette lune plusieurs fois.
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flyingen volant closerplus proche and deeperPlus profond into these jetsjets,
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Nous l'avons fait voler plus près et plus profondément dans ces jets,
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into the denserplus dense regionsles régions of these jetsjets,
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dans les régions plus denses de ces jets,
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so that now we have come away with some
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ce qui fait que nous avons maintenant récolté
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very preciseprécis compositionalcomposition measurementsdes mesures.
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des mesures de compositions très précises.
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And we have founda trouvé
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Et nous avons trouvé
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that the organicbiologique compoundscomposés comingvenir from this moonlune
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que les composés organiques qui proviennent de cette lune
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are in factfait more complexcomplexe than we previouslyprécédemment reportedsignalé.
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sont en fait plus complexes que ce qui était indiqué précédemment.
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While they're not aminoamino acidsacides,
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Bien qu'il n'y ait pas d'acides aminés,
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we're now findingdécouverte things like
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nous trouvons maintenant des choses telles que
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propanepropane and benzenebenzène,
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du propane et du benzène,
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hydrogenhydrogène cyanidecyanure, and formaldehydeformaldéhyde.
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du cyanure d'hydrogène et du formaldéhyde.
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And the tinyminuscule watereau crystalscristaux here
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Et les minuscules cristaux de glace ici
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now look for all the worldmonde
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ressemblent très fortement
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like they are frozencongelé dropletsgouttelettes of saltysalé watereau,
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à des gouttelettes d'eau salée glacée.
02:21
whichlequel is a discoveryDécouverte that suggestssuggère
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Cette découverte suggère
02:23
that not only do the jetsjets come from
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que non seulement ces jets proviennent
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pocketsles poches of liquidliquide watereau,
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de poches d'eau liquide,
02:27
but that that liquidliquide watereau is in contactcontact with rockRoche.
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mais aussi que cette eau liquide est en contact avec de la roche.
02:30
And that is a circumstancecirconstance
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Et c'est cette circonstance
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that could supplyla fourniture the chemicalchimique energyénergie
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qui pourrait fournir l'énergie chimique
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and the chemicalchimique compoundscomposés needednécessaire to sustainsoutenir life.
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et les composés chimiques nécessaires à maintenir la vie.
02:37
So we are very encouragedencouragé by these resultsrésultats.
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Nous sommes donc très encouragés par ces résultats.
02:40
And we are much more confidentsur de soi now than we were two yearsannées agodepuis
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Et nous sommes beaucoup plus confiants maintenant que nous ne l'étions il y a deux ans
02:43
that we mightpourrait indeedeffectivement
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que nous puissions avoir, en fait,
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have on this moonlune, underen dessous de the southSud polepôle,
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avoir sur cette lune, sous le pôle sud,
02:48
an environmentenvironnement or a zonezone that is hospitablehospitalier to livingvivant organismsorganismes.
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un environnement ou une zone qui est accueillante pour les organismes vivants.
02:52
WhetherQue ce soit or not there are livingvivant organismsorganismes there, of coursecours,
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Qu'il y ait ou non des organismes vivants, bien sûr,
02:55
is an entirelyentièrement differentdifférent mattermatière.
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c'est un problème tout à fait différent.
02:57
And that will have to awaitvous attendent the arrivalarrivée,
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Et ce problème devra attendre l'arrivée,
02:59
back at EnceladusEncelade,
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sur Encelade,
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of the spacecraftsvaisseaux spatiaux, hopefullyj'espère some time in the nearprès futureavenir,
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de vaisseaux spaciaux, nous l'espérons dans un avenir proche,
03:05
specificallyPlus précisément equippedéquipé to addressadresse that particularparticulier questionquestion.
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équipé spécifiquement pour répondre à cette question particulière.
03:09
But in the meantimeentre-temps I inviteinviter you to imagineimaginer the day
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Mais en attendant, je vous invite à imaginer le jour
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when we mightpourrait journeypériple to the SaturnineSaturnine systemsystème,
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où nous pourrons voyager vers le système Saturnien,
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and visitvisite the EnceladusEncelade interplanetaryinterplanétaire geyserGeyser parkparc,
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et visiter le parc de geysers interplanétaire d'Encelade,
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just because we can.
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tout simplement parce que nous le pouvons.
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Thank you.
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Je vous remercie
03:23
(ApplauseApplaudissements)
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(Applaudissements)
Translated by JJ CASABONGA
Reviewed by Thomas Marteau

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Carolyn Porco - Planetary scientist
As the leader of the Imaging Team on the Cassini mission to Saturn, Carolyn Porco interprets and shares the pictures coming back from this fascinating planet, its rings and its moons.

Why you should listen

Planetary scientist Carolyn Porco studies and interprets the photos from NASA space missions like the renowned Voyager mission to the outer solar system in the 1980s and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. She leads a team of scientists from the US and Europe that has been analyzing the images Cassini has sent back since it left Earth in 1997. At Saturn, they have found new phenomena everywhere they've turned their cameras … in the planet’s atmosphere, within its rings and on the surfaces of its many moons. And they've produced spectacular images and animations of these marvels in the process.

Back in the early-1980s, while still working on her doctorate, Porco was drafted onto the Voyager imaging team to assist in crunching the mountains of data coming back from Voyager’s fly-by of Saturn. Her work on the planet's rings and their relation to its moons cemented her connection with Saturn. After Voyager had flown by Neptune and was nearing conclusion, she worked together with Carl Sagan in planning Voyager’s celebrated Pale Blue Dot picture of Earth.

Her ongoing work at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPs) has two goals: to process, interpret and archive Cassini’s images for other scientists, and to make sure the images -- in all their breathtaking poetry and mystery and sheer Save-Image-As-Desktop awesomeness -- connect with the general public. She is an advocate for the exploration and understanding of planetary space, and her frequent talks (as well as her "Captain's Log" memos on the CICLOPS website) speak to everyone, scientist and nonscientist alike. Her advocacy extends to Hollywood, where she was the character consultant on the 1997 movie “Contact,” and a consultant on the 2009 Paramount Pictures re-boot of “Star Trek.” In 2012, she was named one the 25 most influential people in space by TIME magazine.

Finally, in a twist on the Pale Blue Dot theme, it was she who conceived the idea to invite the people of the world to smile while Cassini imaged the Earth on July 19, 2013 in an event called “The Day the Earth Smiled.”

For more information: 

Solar System Portrait: Earth as 'Pale Blue Dot'

BBC: Saturn snapped as Earth smiled

The Atlantic: The Carl Sagan of Our Time Reprises the 'Pale Blue Dot' Photo of Earth

The Day the Earth Smiled: Image

Library of Congress: Portraits of the Solar System: Talking with Carolyn Porco About Carl Sagan  

More profile about the speaker
Carolyn Porco | Speaker | TED.com

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