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Marking the 100th anniversary of teams led by Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott reaching the South Pole, science historian Edward Larson will reexamine their so-called Race to the Pole in light of their objectives. Amundsen and his men focused exclusively on reaching the pole and succeeded brilliantly. Scott and his men had multiple objectives, which included conducting a broad array of scientific research by teams of researchers that fanned out across the region. Larson will retell the story of these expeditions in context and contrast it with the conventional wisdom about them.

With the retirement of the Space Shuttle this past summer the United States entered a new era, one in which U.S. astronauts will be flying only aboard the Russian Soyuz vehicle in order to access Low Earth Orbit and the International Space Station. California headquartered Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has developed and twice launched a brand new launch vehicle (Falcon9), as well as launched and recovered a space capsule designed for humans (Dragon). SpaceX will soon begin delivering cargo, and ultimately plans on launching crew, to the International Space Station from U.S. soil.