Busy March ends in a Big Bang

March has been a particularly busy time not only for the National Space Academy, but with the events of the Solar Eclipse and the BBC's flagship Stargazing Live programmes being held in Leicester, space has been at the forefront for the entire month.

Christopher Duff, the Southern Regional Manager attended the National Big Bang Fair, which this year took place at the NEC in Birmingham. His attendance was in collaboration with the Satellite Applications Catapult, to support the semi-finalists of the Longitude Explorer Prize; a prize celebrating ingenuity and innovation in utilising satellites for the common good.

At the beginning of the month, to celebrate International Women's Day, Chris supported a STEM careers day held at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; entirely devoted to encouraging young women to pursue science and space as a career.

Stargazing events took place around the UK to coincide with the BBC's programme and the Solar Eclipse, with the clouds not dampening people's enthusiasm. The National Space Academy was able to support not only the BBC's event at the Leicester Racecourse, but also an event hosted at Oxford University.

Throughout the month the Chris also supported two other Big Bang Fairs; one based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the other where he assisted Lead Educator and Science Enrichment Coordinator of the Banbury Space Studio School: Hayley Flood, as she communicated to students in Bedfordshire about why comets are so important to us, that we would send a probe on a 10-year journey to reach one.

She demonstrated how comets are made in the frozen reaches of our solar system, by building one for them.  The students were so astounded at the dry ice comet Hayley created that they wanted to have their photo taken with it.