In an effort to make non-science students gravitate toward physics, organizers of the college?s first Physics Caf? are combining cups of Starbucks coffee with education about the stars.

The series of discussions will begin Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Emerson Suites as Jim Bell, professor of astronomy at Cornell University, describes his work preparing for NASA?s 2003 twin Mars Exploration Rover Mission. He has spent seven years working on the mission.

The Physics Caf? is sponsored by the Ithaca College Department of Physics. Beth Ellen Clark Joseph, assistant professor of physics, said she hopes to gather science and non-science majors to drink free coffee and discuss current, interesting issues in the subject.

?The more you know, the more curious you are,? she said.

Bell said his job in the Mars mission, which will begin in May or June, is to design the rovers? cameras. Once the rovers reach Mars, he will be responsible for operating the cameras, deciding what to take pictures of and helping to analyze the data that is collected.

The two rovers are important because they will be the fourth and fifth objects that humans have landed on Mars, Bell said.

He said the main goal of the mission is to search for evidence that supports or refutes the hypothesis that Mars was earthlike and conducive to life.

?I get a charge out of the exploration part, seeing new things for the first time and discovering new aspects of what our environment is like,? Bell said.

He plans to show slides Tuesday, as well as a computer simulation of the rocket?s launch and landing. The next speech in the series will occur in the fall.