University of Birmingham - Flight of the Space Shuttles

Understanding one of the greatest achievements of humanity

March 19th from 10am at the University of Birmingham - Poynting Physics Building

The career of NASA's Space Shuttle Fleet has been long and distinguished. It has been the workhorse of NASA's Space Program for nearly thirty years, and despite many great tragedies, it has helped push the boundaries of space science through inspirational projects such as the construction of the International Space Station and the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Now that they are on the verge or retirement, astronomers at the University of Birmingham plan to celebrate their life, and not only commemorate the loss through their contribution to the National Science and Engineering week, the Flight of The Space Shuttles, but also look at other aspects of human space flight, such as its history, how big the space we are exploring is, and what goes through the mind of a space craft designer when they want to bring a space craft home safely.

This event is aimed at all ages of the general public and will feature talk covering describing the history of the Shuttle and space flight by distinguished figures such as Professor Peter Willmore and ESA's Space Ambassador Anu Ojha, as well as activities looking at air rockets, the scale of the solar system and even how to make a spacecraft that can safely return to the surface of the Earth without damaging its cargo. Also running during the day will be competitions such as a number of themed quizzes and a design your own alien contest for those creatively inclined.

Flight of the Space Shuttles is currently planned to run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on Saturday the 19th of March, 2011. Entrance and all activities are free, however due to limiting numbers certain workshops will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

We hope to see you there!

Featured Talks

Taking part in a Shuttle mission: Spacelab 2 by Professor Peter Willmore

In the 1970's Gerry Skinner of the Department of Space Research at Birmingham pioneered the use of coded mask telescopes for high energy X-ray and low energy gamma-ray astronomy, laying the basis for the current Integral mission. We were given by NASA the opportunity to build a large telescope to fly on the Spacelab 2 mission, at a time when the ground-rules for the Shuttle were still being laid down.

A dedicated team at the university, with the aid of mostly local engineering firms, built and flew what was an extraordinarily large and complex instrument for its time. The mission itself was far from smooth and included a main engine shutdown with multiple consequences. These early days will be remembered as the Shuttle fleet goes into retirement.

Per Ardua Ad Astra : Human spaceflight - 5 decades of triumphs and tragedies - and what does this bode for the future of our species? by Anu Ojha

Since 1961, the number of human beings who have ever crossed the "final frontier" is less than would fit into one transatlantic airliner - and 18 have died in the process. Why does human spaceflight push science and engineering to the limits of human ingenuity? Why the enormous push of Project Apollo only to be followed by nearly 4 decades stuck in low Earth orbit? What's next for the US, Russian and other international endeavours in human exploration and will we ever truly reach for the stars - or even Mars?

Event Location: The day will be taking place in the Poynting Physics Building (R13 on the University map), the talks will take place in the Large Lecture Theatre (S02). Directions to the University can be found on the University's visitor information pages and a campus map can be found here.