IAC 2009 Youth Grants Programme

The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) has begun a new programme to provide grants that enable students and young space professionals to participate in IAF activities, in particular the International Astronautical Congress.

The first step in this initiative involves the selection of up to ten young people whose participation in the 2009 International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, Republic of Korea from 12 to 16 October(IAC) will be supported by the IAF.

The IAC 2009 Youth Grants Programme is open to individuals between the ages of 21 and 33 on 1 January 2009. Candidates may apply regardless of their home country or current residence. While all applications will be considered the IAF through this programme seeks to encourage applications from candidates in nations with emerging space capabilities and interests who would otherwise not be able to attend an International Astronautical Congress. The deadline for applications is 1 June 2009.

New Frontiers Questionnaire

In order to help prepare the future of space transportation up to 2030 and beyond, ESA and the French space agency CNES are holding a seminar in May 2009 co-organized by the 3AF (the French Association for Aeronautics and Astronautics) and the futurologist group Prospective 2100.

In order to stimulate discussion on advanced space exploration, ESA's Advanced Concept Team (ACT) have produced two on-line questionnaires aimed at young adults interested in space. With the input from these, they will assess the different opinions and try to establish the vision of the younger generation. The first questionnaire is aimed at non-experts, while second questionnaire is for those who are interested in the technical and scientific details. The most interesting points will be used as a basis for further discussion, managed with a mailing list.

Arthur Success!

I'm very pleased and gratified to say that on Saturday night I was awarded the 2009 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Achievement in Space Education. Here you can see me with the award (modelled on the black monolith from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Sir Arthur and director Stanely Kubrick) and alumni of the International Space University who were present at the awards dinner (including Kingston alumnus Abdul Ismail). There's more info here.

Year 2 Astro Visit to Astrium

Today, the Year 2 Astro class (and a handful of Year 3s) visited the EADS Astrium facility in Stevenage, which is responsible for the structure and subsystem design and build for all Eurostar communications satellites and is prime contractor for science missions such as Beagle 2 Mars lander, Rosetta and Lisa Pathfinder and Earth observation satellites such as Aeolus.

After a welcome from Alistair Scott, we were given an introduction to the company by Nick Gregory (who graduated from the MEng Astro last year) and then presentations on Cubesats by Ronan Wall, Mission Systems by Nic Leveque, Future Missions by Elie Allouis (the latter two also Kingston alumni) and Propulsion Systems by Bob Baldwin. Thank you to all of these. After lunch we were taken on a tour of the site where we saw a wide variety of spacecrtaft being built and also Bridget, Astrium prototype Mars Rover. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photographs inside the site :(

International Space Station Visible over UK

With the Space Shuttle Discovery installing a final set of solar panels on the International Space Station (ISS) at the moment (making it the brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon) and the fine weather we are having, the scope for seeing the ISS is very good at the moment.

In general, low-Earth orbiting satellites are visible for about an hour or so after sunlight and before dawn, when it is dark on the ground but the satellites are still illuminated by the Sun. The inclination of the ISS orbit is such that at the latitude of the UK the station will usually be seen in the south and will and be visible for only a few minutes. To get predictions, go to this NASA website or register (free) at Heavens Above for even more accuracy.

Enjoy!

Sir Arthur Clarke Award Nomination

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just been told that I have been shortlisted for the 2009 Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Achievement in Space Education. Awarded annually since 2005, the ‘Arthurs’, are intended as a ‘space version of the Oscars’ to provide recognition and pay tribute to those who have worked for the advancement of space exploration. It goes without saying that I am very honoured to be shortlisted and hope that I can follow on from Alison Gibbing’s Arthur for Student Achievement in 2008. The Arthurs awards ceremony will be held on the evening of 4 April during the 2009 UK Space Conference at Charterhouse School. I’ll try not to be too tearful, whichever way it goes :)

The Future Through The Past, Today and Tomorrow

Those nice people at WebUrbanist have been looking at imaginings of the future from before the space age. Click your mouse button for 15 visions of retrofuturistic spaceflight and the dreams of what could be, then check out 15 cool space projects for today and tomorrow.