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?

Каролин Порко: да ли би Сатурнов месец могао да подржи живот?

Filmed:
1,054,733 views

Каролин Порко дели узбудљива, нова сазнања са летелице Касини која је недавно прошла поред Енцеладa, једног од Сатурнових месеца. Прикупљени узорци са месечевих ледених гејзира наговештавају да би океан испод његове површине могао да подржи живот.
- 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.

00:18
Two yearsгодине agoпре here at TEDTED
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Пре две године овде на TED-у,
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I reportedпријавили that we had discoveredоткривени
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саопштила сам да смо на Сатурну отркили
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at SaturnSaturn, with the CassiniKasini SpacecraftSvemirski brod,
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са Касини летелицом,
00:25
an anomalouslyanomalously warmтопло and geologicallygeoloљki activeактиван regionрегион
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неуобичајено топао и геолошки активан регион
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at the southernјужно tipСавет of the smallмали SaturnineSaturnine moonмесец
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на јужној тачки малог Сатурновог месеца
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EnceladusEnceladus, seenвиђено here.
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- Енцелада, виђеног овде.
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This regionрегион seenвиђено here for the first time
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Овај регион је приказан по први пут
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in the CassiniKasini imageслика takenузети in 2005. This is the southјуг polarполар regionрегион,
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на Касинијевој слици из 2005. Ово је јужни, поларни регион,
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with the famousпознат tiger-stripeTigar-pruga fracturesfrakture crossingпрелазак the southјуг poleпол.
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са познатим пукотинама у виду тигрових шара које пресецају јужни пол.
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And seenвиђено just recentlyнедавно in lateкасни 2008,
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Ево опет тог региона,
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here is that regionрегион again,
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виђеног недавно, касне 2008.,
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now halfпола in darknessтама because the southernјужно hemispherehemisfera
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али сада у полу мраку јер се на јужној хемисфери
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is experiencingдоживљава the onsetpojava of AugustAvgusta
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ближи крај августа,
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and eventuallyконачно winterзима.
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и стога почетак зиме.
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And I alsoтакође reportedпријавили that we'dми смо madeмаде this mind-blowingдуховно размишљање discoveryоткриће --
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Такође сам известила да смо имали невероватно откриће -
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this once-in-a-lifetimejedinstvena discoveryоткриће
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откриће какво се дешава само једном у животу,
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of toweringkoji se nadvija jetsмлазнице
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високих млазова
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eruptingerupcija from those fracturesfrakture at the southјуг poleпол,
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који избијају из тих пукотина на јужном полу,
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consistingkoji se sastoji of tinyситни waterвода iceлед crystalskristali
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и који се састоје од минијатурних кристала леда
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accompanieduz by waterвода vaporisparavanje
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пропраћених воденом паром и једноставним
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and simpleједноставно organicоргански compoundsједињења like carbonугљеник dioxideдиоксид and methaneметана.
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органским једињењима као што су угљен диоксид и метан.
01:16
And at that time two yearsгодине agoпре
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И у то време пре две године
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I mentionedпоменуто that we were speculatingNagaрao
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поменула сам да смо нагађали
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that these jetsмлазнице mightМожда in factчињеница be geysersгејзери,
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да би ти млазови могли заправо бити гејзири,
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and eruptingerupcija from pocketsџепови
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који избијају из џепова
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or chambersodaje of liquidтечност waterвода underneathиспод the surfaceповршина,
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или комора течне воде испод површине.
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but we weren'tнису really sure.
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Али нисмо били сигурни.
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HoweverMeđutim, the implicationsпоследице of those resultsрезултате --
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Ипак, импликације тих резултата,
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of a possibleмогуће environmentЖивотна средина withinу склопу this moonмесец
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да би могла постојати средина у оквиру тог месеца
01:34
that could supportподршка prebioticprebiotici chemistryхемија,
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која би могла да подржи пребиотичку хемију,
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and perhapsможда life itselfсам --
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а можда и сам живот,
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were so excitingузбудљиво that, in the interveninginterveniše two yearsгодине,
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су биле толико узбуђујуће да смо се у последње две године
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we have focusedфокусиран more on EnceladusEnceladus.
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још више фокусирали на Енцелад.
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We'veMoramo flownлетела the CassiniKasini SpacecraftSvemirski brod
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Већ смо неколико пута послали
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by this moonмесец now severalнеколико timesпута,
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летелицу Касини да прелети поред тог месеца.
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flyingлети closerближе and deeperдубље into these jetsмлазнице,
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Да лети ближе и дубље у те млазове,
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into the densergušće regionsрегије of these jetsмлазнице,
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у њихове гушће регионе,
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so that now we have come away with some
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тако да смо сада опремљени
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very preciseпрецизно compositionalsastava measurementsмерења.
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веома прецизним иструментима.
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And we have foundнашао
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И открили смо да су
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that the organicоргански compoundsједињења comingдолазе from this moonмесец
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органска једињења која произилазе са тог месеца
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are in factчињеница more complexкомплекс than we previouslyраније reportedпријавили.
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заправо сложенија него што смо претходно известили.
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While they're not aminoамино acidskiselina,
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Они нису амино киселине,
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we're now findingпроналажење things like
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али сада проналазимо ствари као
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propaneпропан and benzenebenzen,
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што су пропан и бензен,
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hydrogenводоник cyanidecijanid, and formaldehydeFormaldehid.
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водоник цијанид и формалдехид.
02:13
And the tinyситни waterвода crystalskristali here
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А ови малецки водени кристали
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now look for all the worldсвет
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сада изгледају за цео свет
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like they are frozenсмрзнуто dropletskapljice of saltyslano waterвода,
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као да су смрзнуте капљице слане воде.
02:21
whichкоја is a discoveryоткриће that suggestsсугерише
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То откриће предлаже да
02:23
that not only do the jetsмлазнице come from
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не само што ови млазеви долазе из
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pocketsџепови of liquidтечност waterвода,
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џепова течне воде,
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but that that liquidтечност waterвода is in contactконтакт with rockроцк.
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већ и да је та течна вода у додиру са стеном.
02:30
And that is a circumstanceokolnosti
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То је случајност која
02:32
that could supplyснабдевање the chemicalхемијски energyенергија
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би могла да обезбеди хемијску енергију
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and the chemicalхемијски compoundsједињења neededпотребно to sustainодржи life.
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и хемијске састојке потребне за одржавање живота.
02:37
So we are very encouragedohrabrio by these resultsрезултате.
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Дакле, веома смо охрабрени овим резултатима.
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And we are much more confidentсамоуверен now than we were two yearsгодине agoпре
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Много смо сигурнији сада него што смо били пре две године
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that we mightМожда indeedзаиста
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да можда, заиста
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have on this moonмесец, underиспод the southјуг poleпол,
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на овом месецу, испод овог јужног пола имамо
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an environmentЖивотна средина or a zoneзоне that is hospitableгостопримљив to livingживи organismsорганизми.
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средину или зону која је гостопримива живим организмима.
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WhetherDa li or not there are livingживи organismsорганизми there, of courseкурс,
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Да ли тамо има или нема живих организама, је наравно,
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is an entirelyу потпуности differentразличит matterматерија.
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потпуно друга ствар.
02:57
And that will have to awaitčekaju the arrivalдолазак,
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То ће морати да сачека повратак летелице
02:59
back at EnceladusEnceladus,
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на Енцелад,
03:02
of the spacecraftssvemirskim brodovima, hopefullyНадајмо се some time in the nearблизу futureбудућност,
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надамо се у скоријој будућности,
03:05
specificallyпосебно equippedопремљен to addressАдреса that particularпосебно questionпитање.
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посебно опремљеној да се суочи са тим питањем.
03:09
But in the meantimeрезерман штоерманве техничве што I inviteпозовите you to imagineзамислити the day
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Али у међувремену вас позивам да замислите дан
03:12
when we mightМожда journeyпутовање to the SaturnineSaturnine systemсистем,
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када ћемо можда путовати у Сатурнов систем
03:15
and visitпосетите the EnceladusEnceladus interplanetaryinterplanetarni geysergejzir parkпарк,
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и посетити интерпланетарни гејзир парк звани Енцелад,
03:19
just because we can.
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само зато што то можемо.
03:21
Thank you.
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Хвала вам.
03:23
(ApplauseAplauz)
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(Аплауз)
Translated by Mateja Nenadovic
Reviewed by Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic

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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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