28 maart 2024

SpaceUp Europe live part II

Emily Lakdawalla

As I said yesterday, SpaceUp in Genk is alive & kicking, the first SpaceUp in Europe. Next SpaceUp’s on this side of the Atlantic will follow in Stuttgart and probably too in Paris. The last blog about SpaceUp I wrote during the presentation astronaut Ron Garan did. Well no presentation, more like a Q&A with the audience via a Google Hangout. Same happened with Emilly Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society, who had liked to come over, but because of her kids that was impossible. Lakdawalla told of of the Curiosity mission and the instruments on the Mast they’re using and which provide us important information about Mars. The questions from the audience where about other missions, like New Horizon – which travels to Pluto and the Kuiperbelt objects – and the Rosetta cometmission.

After the Google Hangouts with Lakdawalla and Garan we were all invited to come to the Cosmodrome, a domelike theater, where a film was projected on a big round screen. A film was presented by ESA about the Herschel and Planck missions, which were launched simultaneaously by one Ariane V launch. If I can remember it right this launch was already in 2009, so the movie was a bit late. But it was quit impressive, with it’s 3D-effects. Especially the ‘desert’ of the movie, an animation of a Moëbiusring, was interesting and dizzling.

Daniela and I during dinner

The SpaceUp dinner in the restaurant of the Cosmodrome was great. I was sitting next to the Italian Artist Daniela de Paulis, who had a prsentation in the afternoon about her Moonbouncing project. It appeared I wrote about that in april this year and earlier in 2010 what a coïncidence! In the project she sends images to the moon with radiotelescopes, like the Dwingeloo 25 meter radiotelescope of CAMRAS, and these images return with a portion of noise. See the blogs for more information on this. After dinner we tried to observe the moon with the 20 cm refractor of the Cosmodrome, but the moon was drowned in haze, so that wasn’t a succes. Up to day two!

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