Summer of Space blasts off in Nottingham with meteorites, virtual reality and moon imaging

Scientists from theNanoscale and Microscale Research Centre (nmRC) and School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham are putting on a programme of out of this world activities with children and young people who may not usually have access to or engage with scientific topics.

The Make Space for Everyone event kicks off the programme on the 2 May and is working with SEND students at Yeoman’s Park Academy in Mansfield. In this session students will be able to see a live stream of the imaging of meteorite samples using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) that will give detailed, close-up images of the structure of these space rocks.

SEM is a powerful tool used to visualise the micro- and nano-structures of materials. It works by using a beam of negatively charged particles, called electrons, to scan the surface of the material, creating high-resolution images that show details as small as a few nanometres. One nanometre is approximately one hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a single human hair.

The students will also be able to use digital microscopes to do their own imaging of the meteorite samples.

Research Technician Sally Schofield is leading the session, she said: “We are thrilled to be working with the pupils and staff at Yeoman Park Academy to provide them with an opportunity to explore and learn more about Space. Alternative educational facilities often get overlooked for a number of reasons but as the name of the event suggests we can all ‘Make Space for Everyone’

There is also a space Discovery Day at the University on 3 June where local school children will have the chance to visit the nmRC and see meteorites being imaged. They will also get to visit the new Virtual Reality suite in Engineering and be immersed in a 360 view of space using the state-of-the-art technology.

On 4 June there will be a public lecture with exciting talks on Apollo missions, moon rock imaging, and moon conspiracy theories – with hands on demonstrations for the audience.

The project team are also collaborating with the Sherwood Observatory to offer home learners the chance to get involved. They will have the opportunity to see images of the moon in the incredible planetarium and get hands on with microscopes and space themed activities.

Dr Luke Norman, Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Nottingham is leading the events. He said: “The work we do at nmRC is incredible and reveals a hidden world we usually cannot see and we want to open that up to young people. Space is such an exciting area to explore but the tools to examine it closely are not widely available, by sharing the technology and expertise we have with young people in an exciting and interactive way we hope to ignite an interest in space and science.”