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Category Archives: Space Exploration
Abstracts: Environmental Killings, Space Exploration, and More – Undark Magazine
Posted: July 15, 2017 at 11:28 pm
An iceberg the size of Delaware one of the largest ever recorded broke off the Antarctic continent this week. Scientists had been anticipating that the trillion-ton iceberg would break away for months, and they now worry about the hazards it poses for nearby ships. (Reuters)
One of the largest recorded icebergs could pose a threat to cruise ships traveling from South America.
Visual by James Petts/Flickr
A film clip has been successfully stored in bacterial DNA using the genome editing tool Crispr. The scientific advance ushers in new possibilities for other record-keeping techniques using bacteria, such as recording and replaying how human cells behave when a person becomes ill. (New York Times)
A record number of environmental activists were killed worldwide in 2016, primarily due to disputes over mining, logging, and agribusiness projects, according to a report released by Global Witness. Sixty percent of the killings occurred in Latin America, and almost 40 percent of the victims hailed from indigenous communities. (BBC)
The Yemeni government has dropped a request for cholera vaccines to slow the spread of the disease, which has claimed more1,742 lives in the war-torn country since April 27. A representative from the World Health Organization said the decision was made because most of Yemen has already been affected by the disease, reducing the effectiveness of vaccination. (Science)
A new gene therapy for leukemia has garnered support from an FDA panel of experts, an important milestone for the experimental treatment. The cancer therapy now awaits approval from the FDA itself, which is expected to make a final decision on October 3. (STAT)
An all-female high school robotics team from Afghanistan has been granted permission to compete in an American competition by President Trump, after having been twice denied requests for U.S. visas. (Associated Press)
The Juno spacecraft captured its first closeup images of Jupiters Great Red Spot. Mission Juno invites the public to download and tweak the images for free. (Science News)
And finally, hoping to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon, the Florida startup Moon Express released a plan on Wednesday for a regular delivery service to send payloads to the moon. The plan is part of the companys efforts to make space exploration less expensive. (NBC News)
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The United States aim for space exploration leadership – Travel Wires
Posted: at 11:28 pm
As the VP has recently named an advisory body named the National Space Council, the U.S. is expected to aim at new advances in the space traveling field. According to Pences statements earlier this week, Americans will build a "new era" of space travel, with both Moon and Mars missions in the schedule.
The Vice President offered few details about planned explorations, but joined the NASA's Kennedy Space Center in order to attend the construction phases of a NASA deep space missions spaceship, especially designed to launch astronauts to the low orbit of our planet. SpaceX and Boeing are the two companies that will build the capsules.
"Our nation will return to the Moon, and we will put American boots on the face of Mars. We did win the race to the Moon," Pence declared for the Space Centers audience.
For instance, the Deep Space Gateway project by NASA will use the Space Launch System rocket to send explorers near the Moon, while the missions to Mars are programmed around 2030, as a result of Barack Obama and George W. Bush previous space-related policies.
The relaunch of a strong space program was taken into consideration due to the fact that back in 2011 the United States has stopped sending its astronauts to the International Space Station, as the program was retired. Since then, American explorers use Russia's Soyuz spacecraft for prices as high as $80 million per seat.
Therefore, the Vice President also underlined the importance of the private industry developments, in order to make space travel safer and more affordable. No other specifics were yet provided though, as details on the administration's vision for both NASA and the commercial space flight industry are expected to be revealed during the next months.
"We will get back to winning in the 21st century and beyond," Mike Pence concluded.
As the current Trump administration proposed a $19.1 billion budget for NASA, with a 0.8 per cent decrease when compared with the figures last year, the agency is fighting to make its own adjustments to the budget, in order to be able to complete its projects. The final call will be decided by lawmakers later this year.
Source: phys.org
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Space Memorabilia Up For Grabs At Upcoming Auction At Sotheby’s … – CBS New York
Posted: at 11:28 pm
July 15, 2017 12:01 PM
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) To infinity, and beyond! Youll soon have a chance to own some incredible space memorabilia.
Sothebys is holding its first space exploration themed auction on the 48th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
The famed auction house previewed some of the items up for auction, which include space photography, equipment use on Apollo missions, and memorabilia including a bag used to collect the first lunar samples, which could fetch millions.
The star lot in the sale is the bag that Neil Armstrong used to bring back the very first samples of the moon ever collected, Vice President and Senior Specialist Cassandra Hatton said. The current low to high estimate is three to five million dollars, but we will, we will see on the day of the sale.
The auction is set for July 20 in New York City.
For more on whats available at the upcoming auction, CLICK HERE.
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Space Memorabilia Up For Grabs At Upcoming Auction At Sotheby's ... - CBS New York
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Our space programme will inspire Emirati youth and create a competitive economy – The National
Posted: at 11:28 pm
Space exploration is a necessity not only because of its tangible benefits to our everyday lives, but because of its potential to inspire and uplift mankind in ways we can only imagine. Kamran Jebreili / AP Photo
At the time of the first lunar landing, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration was using the most advanced technology. Today, most people in the UAE have more computing power in their mobile phones than was available to the American astronauts back then.
Space exploration is one of the greatest catalysts for innovation in the 21st century and squarely aligns with the UAEs competitiveness strategy. As the UAE Space Agency celebrates its third anniversary today, we are proud to have developed the largest space programme in the region and remain dedicated to growing the sector, in line with the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021.
Underpinning our aspirations in space is an education system that creates a sustainable, globally competitive economy led by highly-skilled andhighly educated Emiratis.
The Ministry of Education is committed to realising this vision by expanding research and development as well as innovation opportunities across universities, fostering greater collaboration with the private sector and improving the quality of tertiary education, with the overall objective of preparing our graduates for the future. The competitiveness of the country relies on the competitiveness of its people and nowhere is this more evident than in our goals for space exploration.
I also have the distinct honour of serving as Chairman of the UAE Space Agency. Just as higher education pushes our boundaries, so do our aspirations in space. As with bolstering our higher education system, our ability to explore space reaps benefits beyond the immediate task it creates a virtuous cycle.
We recognise that space exploration is a necessity not only because of its tangible benefits to our everyday lives, but because of its potential to inspire and uplift mankind in ways we can only imagine. Satellite technology, for example, has been instrumental in weather forecasting, communications and broadcasting as well national security enhancements, let alone expanding our knowledge of the earth and universe. Now Mars offers the next frontier in space exploration and is a key strategic initiative of the UAE Space Agency.
The Emirates Mars Mission will be the first Arab mission to the Red Planet and aims to provide a truly global picture of the Martian atmosphere, from understanding its climate dynamics to the escape of hydrogen and oxygen. Once the Hope probe reaches Mars in 2021 and begins to gather this information, we will share our findings with more than 200 scientific institutions and education and research centres for analysis, allowing the UAE to lead the way in creating new knowledge about the universe.
These ambitions for our space programme have and will continue to inspire Emirati youth to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics, providing the UAE with the skilled manpower and capacity to conduct research and development that will advance space exploration. Furthermore, the possibility for greater discovery and innovation in space will motivate our young people to build the necessary expertise so that they may contribute to creating a brighter future for all of us.
In our efforts to be one of the most innovative nations in the world, higher education and space exploration will work hand-in-hand to secure the UAEs future. Together, they will drive sustainable economic development, help diversify our economyand elevate our competitiveness, thus ensuring the long-term prosperity of our great nation.
Dr Ahmad Belhoul is the UAEs Minister of State for Higher Education and newly appointed Chairman of the UAE Space Agency
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Our space programme will inspire Emirati youth and create a competitive economy - The National
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Luxemburger Wort – Luxembourg becomes first European country to … – Luxemburger Wort – English Edition
Posted: at 11:28 pm
The Luxembourg Parliament has adopted a draft law on the exploration and use of space resources, making the Grand Duchy the first European country to offer an official framework for private investors and operators.
Coming into force on August 1, it acts as a legal and regulatory framework which ensures private operators ownership of the resources they extract from space and establishes procedures for authorising and supervising space exploration missions.
The legal framework represents a key action within a wider strategy implemented by the Luxembourg government through its SpaceResources.lu initiative which seeks to support the long-term economic development of new and innovative activities in the space industry.
"Luxembourg is the first adopter in Europe of a legal and regulatory framework recognising that space resources are capable of being owned by private companies," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Etienne Schneider, said in a statement.
He said the legal framework is "part of the expertise ecosystem and the business-friendly, innovation-nurturing environment" which Luxembourg offers space industry companies.
"By adopting almost unanimously the respective draft law, the Luxembourg Parliament confirmed the strong political cross-party and national commitment to the SpaceResources.lu initiative," he said.
The new law does not apply to satellite communications, orbital positions or the use of frequency bands.
Luxembourg authorities are already supporting the research and development projects of a number of leading players in the space mining industry that have set up their European operations in Luxembourg.
(Roxana Mironescu and Heledd Pritchard roxana.mironescu@wort.lu,+325 49 93 748, heledd.pritchard@wort.lu, +352 49 93 459)
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SpaceX goes thereseeks government funds for deep space – Ars Technica
Posted: July 14, 2017 at 5:25 am
Enlarge / The view of a landed Falcon 9 first stage booster in June, 2017, in Florida.
SpaceX
During the last decade, NASA has invested billions of dollars into programs with private companies to carry cargo and, eventually, astronauts to the International Space Station. These commercial services were powered by new kinds of contracts for the agency, because they offered a "fixed price" for services and required companies to put in their own funding to develop new spacecraft and rockets.
But the space agency has established a Maginot line of sorts around the planet when it comes to deep space exploration. For example, less than a year ago, NASA's then-administrator, Charles Bolden, said he's "not a big fan" of commercial companies building large, heavy lift rockets that will enable private companies to venture beyond low-Earth orbit. For Bolden, the lines were clear: we'll support you near Earth, but leave deep space to the professionals. "We believe our responsibility to the nation is to take care of things that normal people cannot do, or dont want to do, like large launch vehicles," Bolden saidof NASA.
Nevertheless, SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other companies have pressed forward with their plans to develop large rockets capable of deep space exploration. And they're making progress. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster, which has 90 percent of the lift capability to low Earth orbit as the initial version of NASA's Space Launch System, is likely to fly in 2017up to two years before NASA's own big rocket.
On Thursday during a hearing before the US Senate's Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, SpaceX formally called upon the US government to support public-private partnerships in deep space. Tim Hughes, SpaceX's senior vice president for global business and government affairs,testified."The principles applied in past programs for low Earth orbit capability can and should be applied to deep space exploration," Hughes said. He referred toNASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS program.
NASA, Hughes said, should now consider funding a COTS-like program to run "in parallel" to NASA's Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft for deep space exploration. "There's a program of record right now that is NASA's central focus for deep space exploration," Hughes said in response to a Senator's question. "But I think it can be readily supplemented with public-private partnerships to allow us to sustain a permanent presence in space."
As examples, Hughes said NASA could set "high level requirements" for companies, such as demonstrating the vertical takeoff and landing of rockets from the lunar surface, delivering large amounts of cargo to the surface of Mars, or building a more reliable communications network between Earth and Mars. All of these projects, he said, would enable the United States to establish a permanent presence in space, rather than fly one-off missions.
Hughes also offered evidence that the COTS program has benefited both NASA and SpaceX to a large degree. For example, in 2011, NASA estimatedthat it would have cost the agency about $4 billion to develop a rocket like the Falcon 9 booster based upon NASA's traditional contracting processes. A more "commercial development" approach might have allowed the agency to pay only $1.7 billion.
However, by setting a high-level requirement for cargo transport to the space stationand leaving the details to industrySpaceX was allowed to design and develop the Falcon 9 rocket on its own, Hughes said. The cost? According to NASA's own independently verified numbers, SpaceXs development costs of both the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets were estimated at approximately $390 million in total.NASA got a better deal, and SpaceX got a rocket it could use to fly commercial payloads as well as NASA ones.
It is not clear how warm the senators were to SpaceX's plan, which shares support in the commercial space community from others interested in deep space activities (such as Blue Origin, with its Blue Moon concept). "I think the COTS program has been a great success story for NASA and the commercial marketplace, and believe that the government should look at all options for public private partnership in advancing our nation's exploration goals," said Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
However, some at NASA will likely resist the notion, as it would mean relinquishing some of the control they have over design and development of rockets and spacecraft under the agency's traditional, cost-plus contracting methods. The beneficiaries of those contractsincluding Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Aerojet Rocketydyne, and other established aerospace companiesare also likely to be less than welcoming toward NASA opening the door to competition in deep space exploration to new space firms.
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Space exploration can make us rich, one day! – Daily Pakistan
Posted: at 5:25 am
Space exploration has taught us a lot about the Universe and even our Earth but the learning comes with a hefty price. Finally, it might be possible to earn money from space or even make you rich. Planetary exploration only provides knowledge but a set of celestial bodies no one really cares of are Asteroids, which can actually earn you money, really big money.
Scientists claim that asteroids can be a source wealth worth millions or trillions of dollars. Often referred to as junk of the space, asteroids contain Platinum group metals, which are rare on Earth but vital to run high-tech devices like smartphones and laptops. Astronomers speculate that some asteroids can contain platinum group metals more than are reserves of the entire Earth. No baloney but a fact that an asteroid that whizzed past us in 2015 likely contained 90 million metric tons (90,000,000,000 KG) of platinum group metals.The hidden wealth on the mystic, wayward body amounted around $5 trillion. Other abundant metals asteroids carry in their core may include iron, nickel and cobalt.
Yet, the most precious resource might be water. So expensive it is to carry water from Earth to the space that 1-liter water bottle costs around $5,000.If there are reliable sources of water above the stratosphere, the space travel could become a bit cheaper but a lot more interesting. Water is necessary for cooling of a lot of space stations or perhaps a radiation shield for astronauts. Its most lucrative use would be to split it into hydrogen and oxygen and use both the basic elements in rocket fuel after more complex scientific process aboard the spaceship. If possible, all the water-resourced asteroids can turn into pit shops in space, allowing spacecraft to refuel and venture away.
Another highly potential source of water could be the dear moon. Not only could the moon contain water, it may potentially contain other elements like Helium 3, which is extremely rare on Earth. Speculated total value of moons resources ranges anywhere between 150 to 500 Quadrillion dollars. Although space mining isnt possible yet, several companies are investing heavily to unlock terrestrial treasure troves.
Another factor preventing scientists from exploring asteroids is its gravity (often referred as micro-gravity). An asteroids gravity can be too weak to hold down a spacecraft, as it is neither a star nor a planet but the tumbleweed of cosmos. As landing a spacecraft isnt an option, space engineers are working on a method to dock it, much like how vehicles dock on Earth, and conduct drilling and extraction processes. While docking is a big challenge in itself, even bigger is which ones are worth going to. It is very likely that the scientists may land on one without any worthwhile substances. Of 1,500 asteroids loitering in Earths vicinity, it wont be easy to detect the useful ones. Thankfully, infrared technology helps with that, but wait a few more year for the technology to become sophisticated enough. Moreover, its arduous to establish if the readings are accurate.
Although an asteroids micro-gravity isnt strong enough to land spacecrafts, it can still greatly mess with them. We have only visited a few planets or celestial entities so far, most of whom are in uniform shape with uniform gravitational pull. Since an asteroid neither has a molten core, nor is broken from any star, it has an irregular shape with gravity varying from one point to another. The unusual gravitation pull could also cause some issues for astronauts if one ever landed on an asteroid.
There are some optimistic companies, which think it is possible. Deep Space Industries believes they can mine asteroids by 2027. NASA Resource Prospector Mission is also pretty confident on being the first company to mine the moon, in the hopes of launching a craft in 2020. Some ongoing missions with the intent of mining asteroids include OSIRIS-REx, Hayabusa 2, Asteroid redirect mission and Fobos-Grunt 2.
Since we know so little about space mining, things could go horribly wrong. As asteroids are not that large in size, mining them for substances could create fissures and openings in them, and possibly affecting gravity instantly if not splitting them into pieces. Nonetheless, the utmost terrifying danger could be if the asteroid collapses in on itself, devouring the astronauts and the spacecraft.
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Moon Express Announces Plan for Solar System Exploration – Seeker
Posted: at 5:25 am
The quest to win a $30 million race to the moon is just the first part of Moon Express' grand plan.
The Florida-based companyis developing an entire family of spacecraft designed to help usher in a new age of low-cost space exploration, from the moon to Mars and beyond,Moon Expressrepresentatives revealed today (July 12).
"That's where my heart is solar system exploration on a grand scale that democratizes and completely accelerates our evolution into the solar system through knowledge and discovery, not just a few expensive voyages sponsored by kings and governments, like in history," Moon Express CEO and co-founder Bob Richards told Space.com. "We need to get everybody going." [In Images: How Moon Express' Space Exploration Plan Works]
Shooting for the Moon As its name suggests, Moon Express' vision starts with Earth's nearest neighbor. The company is one of five teams left in theGoogle Lunar X Prize(GLXP) competition, which will award $20 million to the first privately funded group to soft-land a robot on the moon, move it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters) across the lunar surface and beam high-resolution imagery and video back to Earth. (Prizes for several other accomplishments bring the total purse up to $30 million.)
The GLXP award will expire if nobody claims it by Dec. 31, 2017. Moon Express has signed a contract to fly its lander aboard Rocket Lab's new Electron booster but has yet to announce a launch date.
The two-stage Electron lifted off for the first time in late May. The maiden voyage was apartial success; the rocket's second stage failed to reach its desired orbit, according to Rocket Lab representatives.
"I think that first test flight bodes very well for Rocket Lab, and we're still rooting for them and hoping that they'll have an operational vehicle ramped up and ready for us by the end of the year," Richards said.
Big Plans The GLXP mission won't be the last lunar voyage for Moon Express, if all goes according to plan. Its deal with Rocket Lab covers up to five launches, and Moon Express wants at least two more to occur in the next few years, Richards revealed during a news conference today.
The first post-GLXP mission, scheduled to launch in 2019, will set up a robotic research outpost near the lunar south pole and prospect forwater and other resources. Then, in 2020, Moon Express will launch the first commercial lunar sample-return mission. That effort, Richards said, should prove out the company's technologies and its business model, which is centered around creating low-cost access to the moon's surface for a variety of customers.
The core piece of hardware to make all of that happen is a single-enginelander called the MX-1, which will launch on the GLXP flight. Moon Express aims to mass-produce the MX-1, sell it as a stand-alone lunar explorer and have it serve as a building block for three larger, more capable spacecraft the MX-2, the MX-5 and the MX-9, Richards said today.
The MX-2 combines two MX-1s into a single package, boosting the MX-1's payload capacity in Earth-moon space and potentially enabling missions to Venus or themoons of Mars. As their names suggest, the MX-5 and MX-9 incorporate five engines and nine engines, respectively, and broaden the exploration envelope even further, Richards said.
All of these spacecraft will be available in orbiter, lander, and deep-space variations, and the MX-5 and MX-9 vehicles will also come in a sample-return configuration.
Moon Express has not revealed how much it will charge for any of these spacecraft. However, company representatives have said that, together, the MX-1 and Electron can deliver a lunar mission for less than $10 million (that's "cost," not retail). Electron flights currently sell for about $5.5 million apiece, putting the lander's raw cost at $4.5 million or less.
Therefore, the potential exists to cut space-exploration costs significantly for example, by an order of magnitude or so on MX-9 missions, Richards said.
"That's when you get a radical price reduction a collapse, really, of the costs down to hundreds of thousands of dollars a kilogram [of payload to the lunar surface] from the millions that it is today for smaller systems," he told Space.com. "I really hope that we're able to do for lunar access whatcubesatsdid for access to low Earth orbit."
The moon is the focus in the short term, but the company hopes its reach will expand as time goes on.
"We're notTheMoon Express," Richards said. "We're Moon Express, so any moon will do."
Originally published onSpace.com.
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AstroFest to present four nights of stargazing, space exploration – The Daily Collegian Online
Posted: July 13, 2017 at 7:23 am
From simulated gooey alien planet surfaces to open telescope viewings on the Davey Lab roof, Penn State's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics will offer an interactive perspective on the science of astronomy when it hosts the 18th Annual AstroFest.
AstroFest came to life 18 years ago when Nahks Tr'Ehnl was still a Penn State student double majoring in art and astronomy. Tr'Ehnl said he and a few other classmates were in town for the summer and decided to incorporate a festival of astronomy at the same time as the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
"Several members of the astronomy club just happened to be here in town for the summer and thought it would be nice to have an open house," Tr'Ehnl said. "I wanted to tie in both art and astronomy. Then, things just started to pick up from there."
Between Wednesday, July 12 and Saturday, July 15, the fifth floor of Davey Lab will be open from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. to the community for free. Participants will have the opportunity to stargaze the night sky after 10 p.m. on the roof of Davey Lab and, if the weather permits, viewers should get the opportunity to see Jupiter, Saturn, the Ring Nebula and Globular Cluster M13, among others.
Festivalgoers can also watch cosmic rays pass through a cloud chamber, participate in their own bottle rocket launchings, and play an astronomy video game featured in Penn State's Astro 001 course.
Tr'Ehnl, who was also the co-creator of the video game, said the video game could help people understand astronomy better.
"As a subject, astronomy is mainly visual, as far as observational astronomy goes," Tr'Ehnl said. "Videogames are produced in a 3-dimensional format which helps demonstrate spatial relations between stars and planets to offer viewers a different perspective."
According to AstroFest co-founder Jane Charlton, who is also a professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the festival will host 14 different astronomy-related presentations which will each last 30 minutes long. Presentation topics will vary from the solar eclipse, expected on Aug. 21, to black holes.
"People come all four nights and don't repeat a single thing," Charlton said. "We always have new demonstrations every year because of new volunteers, and that's what keeps me going."
Other activities featured during the four-night activities will include astronomy origami, also known as "astrogami, planetarium shows, finding habitable zone planets and an astronomy idol competition.
"I want it to be a mini Disney world of astronomy," Charlton said. "Showing people outside of the Penn State community about astronomy is important, and most of them always seem to be have a good time."
Tr'Ehnl said that people go to AstroFest during the busy week because they are curious as to what's going on in the science community.
"[AstroFest] is a very important way for people to see what astronomers do and feel a connection to it, TrEhnl said. That this is what funding for science comes from, what results come from NASA and why we as taxpayers are impacted by it. All these things that you may hear on the news and TV are a chance to get hands-on with it and get to ask direct questions to the people who do the science."
Chris Palma, another professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, said the department hosts AstroFest every year because they want people to get excited about astronomy.
"Astronomy is a popular science, Palma said. Its all on TV, which is why we all feel an obligation to help run programs like AstroFest. If I want people to get anything out of AstroFest, I just want them to have a good time."
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Special event gives insight into space exploration – LoughboroughEcho.net
Posted: at 7:23 am
JOIN the National Space Centre in Leicester for an evening dedicated to the amazing spacecraft, telescopes, and engineering that allow us to explore the universe.
The centre will be joined by special guests who will share their experiences of building things that go into space at the special event, on Friday, July 14.
Discover how space has made a difference to your everyday life, make Soyuz or Saturn V rocket, learn about how robotic technology is helping us explore our Solar System, find out more telescopes and get hands on with some artefacts from its vaults.
Choose to finish your evening with some live stargazing (weather dependent) or add a film screening to your package and sit back in the Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium for a night of Contact, with Jodi Foster.
To find out more, or to book, please visit the National Space Centre website at http://spacecentre.co.uk/ - here is the timetable of events:
6pm - Building Opens Sungazing begins
6.30pm - It is Rocket Science! LIVE Space
6.45pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium
7pm - Staying Alive in Space Prof Anu Ojha in LIVE Space
7pm - How to Buy a Telescope Leicester Astronomical Association in Boosters Caf
7.25pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium
7.30pm - Why Cant We Fly into Space in A Plane? Dr Nigel Bannister, University of Leicester in LIVE Space
7.45pm - Into the Unknown film from Northrop Grumman (38 min) Shuttle Suites
8pm - How to Buy a Telescope Leicester Astronomical Association in Boosters Caf
8pm - Building Things That Go into Space Piyal Samara-Ratna, University of Leicester in LIVE Space
8.05pm - Tour of the Night Sky Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium
8.30pm - ExoMars Rover: Engineering for the Red Planet Paul Meacham, Airbus in LIVE Space
8.45pm - Into the Unknown film from Northrop Grumman (38 min) Shuttle Suites
8.45pm - FILM Contact PG (additional ticket required)
9.20pm - Sunset Stargazing begins
10pm - Building closed to non-film guests
11pm - Film ends and Building Closes
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Special event gives insight into space exploration - LoughboroughEcho.net
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