A kit of experiments which will be used to teach fundamental physics and chemistry to students worldwide has arrived this morning (Friday 5th September) at the International Space Station (ISS) for British ESA astronaut Tim Peake to work with during his 6-month mission in space.
Launched from Kazakhstan on Tuesday on board the Soyuz TMA 18-M mission, the kit was funded by the UK Space Agency and designed and built by the National Space Academy. Flight-testing for space launch was carried out by the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre.
'Astro Academy: Principia' is an ambitious science education programme that will use the unique microgravity facilities on board the ISS to teach fundamental aspects of physics and chemistry, using experiments and demonstrations that are impossible to conduct on Earth. After starting his mission in December 2015, Tim will operate the equipment in space, and the footage of his demonstrations and experiments will be included in a suite of freely available teaching films and accompanying teacher education guides that will be released in 2016.
National Space Academy Director Anu Ojha OBE, whose team led the development of Astro Academy: Principia programme and payload, had this to say:
"Our ambitions for Astro-Academy: Principia are bold – to deepen the curriculum understanding of physics and chemistry students, to support teachers in their curriculum programme delivery and to take advantage of the unique microgravity classroom we have aboard ESA's Columbus module of the International Space Station."
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