Around 20 earlybirds turned out for the EPSC 2013 Women in Aerospace (WIA)-Europe Breakfast, sponsored by Astrium. Over coffee, croissants and bacon rolls, participants had a chance to network and find out about WIA-Europe.
Lisa Peacocke welcomed participants on behalf of Astrium, which is a Corporate Member of WIA-Europe. Frances Westall, of CNRS, spoke of the importance of networks like WIA-Europe in providing support and mentoring for women and offered advice - 'be stubborn!' - to those present. Fiorella Coliolo, Membership Director for WIA-Europe and Anita Heward, Press and Outreach Officer for Europlanet, expressed the intention of the two organsisations to build a close collaboration into the future. Jean-Luc Josset highlighted the importance to the whole planetary research community of retaining the skills and knowledge of women at senior levels in both academia and engineering.
Some photos from the event are below:
The Royal Museums Greenwich's summer blockbuster exhibition, 'Visions of the Universe' closes on 15 September 2013. The dazzling showcase of images from our Solar System and beyond has met with well deserved acclaim.
A highlight of the exhibition is the spectacular 13-metre long Mars Window, a panoramic projection of the Martian landscape as seen by NASA’s Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers on the surface of the red planet. Each panorama has been painstakingly stitched together from dozens of individual images. Projected on a large scale, the installation gives the feeling of standing on Mars itself.
In the final week of the exhibition, there will be an intimate, private after-hours view of the exhibition hosted by three world-renowned Mars experts. Join them beneath the Mars Wall for informal talks on Mars exploration. With Dr. Melissa Rice, Dr. Sanjeev Gupta and Casey Drier.
To tie in with the 'Festival of the Planets', the Royal Astronomical Society is hosting a public lecture on the Rosetta mission, which will rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Rosetta's project scientist, Matt Taylor from the European Space Agency, will give an overview of the mission to date and provide an insight into the exciting years we have ahead of us as Rosetta reaches and studies its target.
This September, the Royal Society will be joining in the 'Festival of the Planets' with a scientific discussion meeting on the origin of the Moon, an exhibition of lunar related material from its archive and a Café Scientifique on how the giant planets protect us.
The Royal Society’s scientists have long been fascinated by Earth’s nearest neighbour. From 9 September, the 'Moon in the Marble Hall' exhibition will include manuscripts, books and pictures that look at the history of lunar science, from Christopher Wren’s construction of a Moon globe for Charles II, to the Apollo missions.
Although most scientists today accept that the Moon was formed through a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body, new data from spacecraft, plus improved computer simulations, continue to challenge our understanding of the exact origins of our nearest neighbour. In the 'Origins of the Moon' discussion meeting on 23 and 24 September, leading researchers will exchange ideas about lunar formation and what it can tell us about the origins of the Earth and other planetary bodies.
Impacts have played a crucial role in the evolution of our Solar System. In a Café Scientifique debate on 23 September, UCL's Dr Chris Arridge will look at the role that giant planets play in the game of cosmic billiard balls!