On this day (18th May 2018) 27 years ago in 1991 – Helen Sharman Became the first British astronaut!
27 year old Helen Sharman, from Sheffield – blasted into orbit, from Baikonur cosmodrome in the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, with fellow astronauts, Anatoly Artebartsky and Sergei Krikalyov – aboard the Soyuz TM-12 space capsule.
Source – RocketSTEM
“Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary”
A food chemist from Sheffield, heard the advertisement (‘Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary’) while flicking through the radio stations on her way home from ‘Mars’ (the confectionary company) – she was picked out of more than 13,000 other applicants!
Source – Getty
Helen is an inspiration to all – she speaks at events, giving lively and fascinating talks to engage everybody with STEM!
Please share this article to celebrate
Helen Sharman’s success –
27 years on from her launch!
‘Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary’- An inspiring two-part talk by Helen Sharman and Bas lansdorp, hosted by Dallas Campbell!
The talk was held on the 5th May 2018 as part of Leeds International Festival!
Held at the AQL, Salem Chapel – Owned by CEO and Founder of aql, Dr Adam Beaumont, who purchased the building in 2011 in line with plans to expand the business and house a large data centre. Continued restoration has seen the development of 3 data centres and an innovative interior. The sense of history can be seen throughout the building in the original features and the interior design, with a modern twist, houses cutting edge technology and innovative telecommunications.
Dallas Campbell’s lively personality kept the audience captivated before, after and in between the talks!
Bas Lansdorp, Co-Founder of Mars One – A one-way mission, which aims to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars!
Bas gave a fascinating talk about the why and how of Mars exploration and permanent settlement – there is no return trip, he’ll discuss the complexities of finding a crew capable of leaving their friends, family – and indeed planet – behind them!
Helen Sharman CMG OBE – A food chemist from Sheffield, who became the first British astronaut in 1991!
Helen kept the audience engaged as she described her journey to the audience, from hearing the advertisement (‘Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary’) on her way home from ‘Mars’ (the confectionary company) – to being picked out of more than 13,000 other applicants and her incredible experience of being in space!
A fantastic, inspiring and motivating afternoon!
Thanks to Leeds International Festival, Helen Sharman, Bas Lansdorp and Dallas Campbell!
We are extremely excited to announce that Apollo 15 astronaut, Al Worden has become the patron of MajorTim.space!
Here is a quote from Al explaining why he has endorsed MajorTim.space:
“The most important thing we can leave for our descendants is a love of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). These are the tools that will enable us to survive in today’s world and help us find a safe place in the future in which to prosper. I encourage all young people to focus on these disciplines to become part of the solution rather than the problem. It is our future that you hold in your hands and this website is a good source of information!” – Al Worden
Our thanks and greatest gratitude go to Al Worden for being our patron!
NASA’s InSight Mission launched Saturday, 5th May 2018!
The NASA InSight spacecraft launched on-board a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California
The is the first interplanetary mission from the West Coast and NASA’s InSight is the first outer space robotic explorer to study the interior of Mars!
NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is on a 300-million-mile trip to Mars to study for the first time what lies deep beneath the surface of the Red Planet.
InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) is a NASA Discovery Program mission that will place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior. But InSight is more than a Mars mission – it is a terrestrial planet explorer that will address one of the most fundamental issues of planetary and solar system science – understanding the processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system (including Earth) more than four billion years ago.
By using sophisticated geophysical instruments, InSight will delve deep beneath the surface of Mars, detecting the fingerprints of the processes of terrestrial planet formation, as well as measuring the planet’s “vital signs”: Its “pulse” (seismology), “temperature” (heat flow probe), and “reflexes” (precision tracking).
The NASA InSight spacecraft launches on-board a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket, Saturday, May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the “inner space” of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core! Photo source – NASA/Bill Ingalls
InSight is scheduled to land on the Red Planet on the 26th November 2018 where it will conduct science operations until the 24th November 2020, which equates to one year and 40 days on Mars, or nearly two Earth years.
The InSight lander will probe and collect data on marsquakes, heat flow from the planet’s interior and the way the planet wobbles, to help scientists understand what makes Mars tick and the processes that shaped the four rocky planets of our inner solar system.
Previous missions to Mars investigated the surface history of the Red Planet by examining features like canyons, volcanoes, rocks and soil, but no one has attempted to investigate the planet’s earliest evolution, which can only be found by looking far below the surface.
The InSight mission is part of NASA’s Discovery Program. It will rely on proven technologies used on NASA’s Mars Phoenix mission, and will send a lander to the Martian surface that will spend two years investigating the deep interior of Mars – as well as the processes that not only shaped the Red Planet, but also rocky planets throughout the inner solar system.
April 12th 1961 – Yuri Gagarin is about to see what no other person has seen in the history of humanity – the Earth from space. In the next 108 minutes he’ll see more than most people do in a lifetime. What sights awaited the first cosmonaut silently gliding over the world below? What was it like to view the oceans and continents sailing by from such a height?
In a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency and the Expedition 26/ 27 crew of the International Space Station, this fascinating new film has been created to give an insight to what Yuri Gagarin first witnessed fifty years ago.
By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin’s Vostok 1 spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it.
Weaving these new views together with historic, recordings of Gagarin from the time, (subtitled in Englsih) and an original score by composer Philip Sheppard, the spellbinding film has been created to share with people around the world on this historic anniversary.
Watched over 3.3 million times on YouTube and screened publically at over 1600 venues in more than 130 countries, First Orbit has now been translated by the fans into more than 30 languages.
Due to popular demand the film now has a multi-language version on DVD and Blu-Ray.
On the 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space when he was launched aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
Source – ESA
After Soviet Union decided to launch a human being to space, a secret nationwide selection process was started in 1960 and Gagarin was chosen with 19 other pilots. Gagarin was further selected for an elite training group known as the ‘Sochi Six’, who would make up the first cosmonauts of the Vostok programme.
Gagarin and the other prospective cosmonauts were subjected to experiments designed to test physical and psychological endurance; he also underwent training for the upcoming flight.
Out of the 20 selected, the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov, because of their performance in training, as well as their physical characteristics — space was at a premium in the small Vostok cockpit and both men were rather short. Gagarin was 1.57 metres tall.
Stephen Hawking’s ashes will be interred close to the grave of another of Britain’s greatest physicists, Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.
His funeral will take place at Cambridge University’s Church on Easter Saturday (31.03.18) and family, friends and colleagues are being invited to the private service.
Stephen Hawking Source – Getty Images
Hawking’s children said they had chosen to hold the funeral in Cambridge because it is the city that he loved so much and which loved him.
Stephen Hawking was a fellow at Cambridge College for more than 52 years.
Physicist Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity Source – NASA
Professor Hawking who died on the 14th March 2018, will have his ashes interred in Westminster Abbey later in the year.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall said:
“It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists”.
Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727 and Charles Darwin was buried close to Newton in 1882.
Source – Cambridge University
Stephen Hawking lived and worked in Cambridge for over 50 years.
We had a great time with 6th Colwyn Bay Scouts on the 13.03.18 – celebrating British Science Week by running our Balloon cars workshop!
British Science Week (run by the British Science Association) is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths – featuring entertaining and engaging events and activities across the UK for people of all ages.
British Science Week provides a platform to stimulate and support teachers, STEM professionals, science communicators and the general public to produce and participate in STEM events and activities.
The Scouts were challenged to design and build their own balloon cars!
During the session we ran the fastest balloon car competition!
We timed every balloon car on our ramp to the finish line and recorded all the times!
It was wonderful to see the Scouts being competitive – but helping each other at the same time!
Even though it was a competition, all the Scouts helped each other while building their cars!
The winner was……..
Kosi (below)
Presenting Kosi with his prize!
Kosi’s car (SSC Wonder) had a fantastic time of 2.82 seconds!
Well done to all of the Scouts – you all built amazing cars!
Professor Stephen Hawking, a man who defined all odds – has died aged 76.
He was one of the most respected and best known scientists of his age.
The British scientist was famed for his work with black holes and relativity – he also wrote several popular science books including – A Brief History of Time.
He received honorary degrees, medals, prizes and awards throughout his career and was honoured with a CBE in 1982.
Stephen Hawking Source – Getty Images
At the age of 22 Prof Hawking was given only a few years to live after being diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease.
The illness left him in a wheelchair and largely unable to speak except through a voice synthesiser
Prof Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology as a union of relativity and quantum mechanics.
He also discovered that black holes leak energy and fade to nothing – a phenomenon that would later become known as Hawking radiation.
Through his work with mathematician Sir Roger Penrose, he demonstrated that Einstein’s general theory of relativity implies space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes.
The scientist gained popularity outside the academic world and appeared in several TV shows including The Simpsons, Red Dwarf and The Big Bang Theory.
In 2007, British physicist Stephen Hawking took a Parabolic flight (a specially modified jet that dives through the sky to give passengers an experience of zero gravity)!
Physicist Stephen Hawking in Zero Gravity Source – NASA
British astronaut Tim Peake said Prof Hawking “He inspired generations to look beyond our own blue planet and expand our understanding of the universe”.
He added: “His personality and genius will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with his family”.
