NISO, Faulkes Tel, EAAS talk, HST.

From Terry:

Hi all,

1. Armagh Planetarium launches Northern Ireland Space Office.
As part of World Space Week 2006, Armagh Planetarium launched its latest initiative, the Northern Ireland Space Office (NISO).
Led by Robert Hill from the Planetarium, the Space Office is being jointly funded by Space Connections (a member of the Yorkshire Forward Regional Development Agency) and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland.
NISO aims to build on the interest and enthusiasm of teachers already involved in space science projects by developing resources to support all teachers in aligning the potential offered by developing technologies to the requirements of the revised Northern Ireland Curriculum. The resulting resources and support materials will use the context of space to relate science, technology and mathematics to real life.
The Space Office mission is to create a learning environment that encourages school children to recognise the importance of Science, Engineering and Technology in modern industry and society. There are already many Astronomy and space-related resources available to teachers and pupils throughout Europe and the Space Office will align these resources and learning journeys to the new Northern Ireland curriculum. The Planetarium has had tremendous success with schools using the Faulkes Robotic Telescopes, with Northern
Ireland pupils continuously amongst the highest percentage of Faulkes users in the UK.
There is a real problem facing Europe with not enough students tackling the disciplines in school that they perceive as difficult and this new initiative will hopefully inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers. Northern Ireland has a fabulous educational reputation and it is important that our next generation gain the necessary knowledge to compete in a European knowledge-based society.
NISO will also engage with ESA and its partners to realise an educational resource centre, based at the Planetarium, dedicated to European Space educational resources for local teachers, pupils and parents.

2. Faulkes Telescope. Robert will still be the Faulkes schools co-ordinator in Ireland and will probably be even more involved as FT is really taking off in ROI and internationally due to his work with the British Council in Russia and Portugal.
It is really important that FT becomes integral to the new KS3 N Ireland curriculum and this is one of the things that he is pushing forward, making Northern Ireland the first place in the world where astronomy robotic telescopes actually become part of the accredited learning process for school pupils.

For further information on the Northern Ireland Space Office or the Faulkes Telescope contact: Robert Hill, Northern Ireland Space Office, Armagh Planetarium, College Hill, Armagh, BT61 9DB. rob@armaghplanet.com or phone: +44 (0)7929278501.
Tel: +44(0)2837524725. Fax: +44(0)2837526187. www.armaghplanet.com

3. EAAS Meeting. The next meeting will be on Monday 6th November at 8pm in the Thompson Primary School, Ballyrobert. The main speaker will be Dr. David Asher from the Armagh Observatory who will speak on "Dirty snowballs, sudden meteor outbursts and asteroid flybys".

4. Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission approved. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has approved a fifth and final shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. The flight will extend the observatory's life by replacing aging parts and increase its scientific reach by installing two new instruments, allowing HST to see further back in time than ever before.
This will fill the gap which would otherwise have existed should the HST have failed within the next few years, as seemed likely, and the launch of its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, in about 8 years.
The crew will be led by Scott Altman, with pilot Greg C. Johnson, robot arm operator Megan McArthur and spacewalkers Andrew Feustel, Mike Good, John Grunsfeld and Mike Massimino. Launch is tentatively planned for May 2008 using shuttle Discovery. See: spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts125/061031approval/

Clear Skies,

Terry Moseley