Women in Scientific Exploration
FALL SERIES: Women in Scientific Exploration
Venus as a Potentially Habitable Planet
Professor Sara Seager
September 12, 2026
7:30 – 9:30 pm
Sky’s The Limit Observatory & Nature Center
9697 Utah Trail, Twentynine Palms, CA
Reservations required; $25 per car
REGISTER HERE
Scientists have been speculating on Venus as a habitable world for over half a century, not the scorching surface, but the much cooler atmosphere at 48 to 60 km above the surface. The concept is that Venus’ perpetual cloud cover might host life, as Earth’s clouds do. The Venus clouds, however, are not made of water but are composed of concentrated sulfuric acid—an aggressive chemical that is toxic for Earth life. New lab-based experiments show some biomolecules are stable in concentrated sulfuric acid and advance the notion that the Venus atmosphere environment may be able to support complex chemicals needed for life and motivate the astrobiology-focused Morning Star Missions to Venus.
Professor Sara Seager is a Canadian-American astrophysicist and Professor of Physics, Planetary Science, and Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her ground-breaking research ranges from the foundation of exoplanet atmospheres to innovative theories about life on other worlds to development of novel space mission concepts. She was Deputy Science Director of NASA’s TESS mission, originator of the JPL–MIT CubeSat ASTERIA, and has led major efforts to design space-based direct imaging missions to discover another Earth. She now directs the Morning Star Missions to Venus in search of signs of life in the planet’s clouds. Her many honors include a MacArthur “genius” grant, the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada. She is the author of.