Tag Archives: UK

Dec 16 2011

UK launches National Space Academy

Space is about to touch down in even more classrooms and colleges across the UK, with the launch of the National Space Academy – a network of outstanding teachers and space scientists that will use the inspirational context of space to teach STEM subjects – and geography – to our students and their teachers.

Led by the National Space Centre on behalf of the UK Space Agency, the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the UK Space Education Office (ESERO-UK), and theEuropean Space Agency, the academy will be launched in February 2012 and will be supported by a range of universities, colleges and sponsors.

The National Space Academy’s network of teachers will work with scientists from theUniversity of Leicester, the University of Nottingham and the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, Oxfordshire. They will deliver student masterclasses, teacher CPD (continued professional development) courses, careers events and a bespoke space engineering course at Loughborough College. The first group of 12 teachers will be spread across England.

Inmarsat, VEGA Space, Astrium GEO Information Services, Rolls Royce, Logica, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Ogden Trust have all committed funds to the National Space Academy.

The National Space Academy will work with existing initiatives such as ESERO-UK, thenetwork of Science Learning Centres, STFC’s Leading Space Education Project, the Institute of Physics, and the network of Science and Discovery Centres to improve the attainment of students in secondary schools and colleges.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts said:

Space captures the imagination of people of all ages, and the National Space Academy will use the UK’s world-class expertise in space research and technology to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers

“Space captures the imagination of people of all ages, and the National Space Academy will use the UK’s world-class expertise in space research and technology to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. This will also equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to boost both our leading research base and our economy.”

Professor Sir Martin Sweeting G3YJO, Chairman of the National Space Centre’s Board of Trustees, says:

“The National Space Centre is indebted to its partners and sponsors for their drive and enthusiasm in getting the National Space Academy up and running. The three year pilot programme that was run in association with the East Midlands Development Agency was a great success and showed that students respond very positively to the subject of space as a context for their learning. We have evidence of improved attainment in exam results and teacher effectiveness, and a greater likelihood of students choosing science and engineering-related subject at the next stage in their education”.
Credit: UK Space Agency

Dec 8 2011

Announcement of Opportunity: CubeSat Mission Concept Studies

The core of the UK Space Agency strategy is to lead and sustain the growth of the UK Space Sector. In support of this the National Space Technology Programme (NSTP) promotes the development of new commercial and scientific applications by offering grant funding for truly novel concepts to be fully explored.

CubeSats offer huge potential to accelerate technology development of sensors and instruments in a miniaturised package for deployment in space. New technology concepts for space missions can be demonstrated on CubeSat payloads, delivering a test bed at low cost and significantly reduced timescales. The CubeSat is a relatively new concept, which is maturing rapidly, in which the UK has existing leading capability.

This NSTP programme is to facilitate the acceleration of space technologies up the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) curve but can also attract new players into the space sector by offering a low cost route to getting flight heritage. To follow, the NSTP Pathfinder studies programme is to be released in early 2012 and will be specifically to develop technology concepts.

Oct 3 2011

Surrey to start making radar satellites.

The distinctive shape is a consequence of the radar antenna underneath and the solar panel on top

The distinctive shape is a consequence of the radar antenna underneath and the solar panel on top

Continue reading →

Sep 28 2011

Name a satellite! European Commission launches a competition for 9-11 year olds

The European Commission has launched a European-wide drawing competition for children aged 9-11. The child submitting the winning entry from each European country will have one of the Galileo satellites named after them. Galileo is the European Union’s global satellite navigation system. Data from space will allow satnavs and smart phones to calculate your position any where on Earth.

The first two Galileo satellites are scheduled for launch on 20 October and are named Natalia and Thijs after the children winning the competitions in Bulgaria and Belgium. Competitions have already taken place in these countries and the competition is now open for the rest of Europe.

Entries for the UK drawing competition must be submitted on-line by 15 November at the competition website. The European Commission has also produced a lesson plan for teachers so that they can use the competition as a basis to teach their classes about space and space technology. Continue reading →

Sep 22 2011

UK astronaut resurfaces from cave training.

ESA’s UK astronaut Tim Peake, together with fellow astronauts Thomas Pesquet from France, Randolph Bresnik from NASA, Norishige Kanai from Japan and Sergey Ryzhikov from Russia, has just completed (21 September 2011) a week of living and working in a dark and humid cave – a unique training experience, organised by ESA, to prepare astronauts for space.

 

The 5 astronauts are now going through debriefings similar to those that follow an astronaut’s return from a space mission. Continue reading →

Sep 22 2011

UK space students graduate from International Space University

UK space students graduate from International Space University

6 UK graduates have just had their first taste of working in the space sector with the successful completion of the International Space University’s two-month Space Studies Programme (SSP).

With funding assistance from the UK Space Agency’s ISU Scholarship scheme, they were exposed to a wide range of disciplines related to space programmes and enterprises.

An additional grant winner has just started a 1 year MSc at the ISU and one of the students from the two month SSP will be joining him. This years SSP was held at the Graz University of Technology in Austria.

The ISU provides graduate-level training to the future leaders of the emerging global space community. In its two-month Space Studies Programme and one-year Masters Programme, ISU offers its students a unique core curriculum including study areas such as space science, space engineering, systems engineering, space policy and law, business and management, and space and society. Both courses also involve an intense student research team project providing international graduate students and young space professionals with the opportunity to solve complex problems by working together in an intercultural environment. Continue reading →