From this page you can access resources relating to my lecture tour Defying Gravity: Make Physics Your Launchpad.
If you would like to arrange a talk, click here.
There are three sections:
- careers guides
- information on the demonstrations and other items from the lecture
- sources of further information and resources
I hope you find these downloads useful, please let me know how you use them by commenting below or sending me an email.
1. Careers Guides
This series covers physics, engineering and computer science and how they are used in the space industry, along with some suggested job titles and qualification information.
Want to know who in your area works in the space industry? You can look them up in the Space Directory.
2. Defying Gravity
Sample lecture slides
The original slides for the lecture are very large, so a slimline version is supplied as a PDF below. Links to the films used as part of the presentation are available below on YouTube and are also linked from within the PDF itself.
DG slim slides [1.9MB PDF]
Film clips
A strange beeping noise…
JFK Moon speech
The UK from the ISS – taken at night
Felix’s Space Jump
Demonstrations
The equipment used for this lecture is varied. If you would like to build your own catapult, I am happy to supply the details of the design. It is an original design, but inspiration was taken from this site. If you are undertaking such a build, it should be done under appropriate supervision with the necessary permissions granted. As you would expect, I cannot take responsibility for safety of those recreating the demonstrations.
For on instructions on how to build a desktop catapult, jump over to my blog.
3. Useful links
Resources/classroom activities
- Faulkes Telescope
- National Schools Observatory
- Earth Camera on the ISS
- National STEM E-library
- ISS Primary Education Kit
- ESERO: the UK Space Education Office
- Stellarium Free observing software shows the night sky where you are.
- Space Hack: directory of ways to get involved with space exploration
- How do I become an Astronaut – an article from the Guardian, talking to Richard Searfoss a NASA Astronaut
- Why satellite? A series of good short films from satellite company Astra.
- Interactive satellite tracking app from NASA
- Explore NASA’s home and city app where you can “trace space back to you!” It highlights where NASA work has impacted in the home and elsewhere.
- Canada Arm simulator game: take control of the robotic arm on the ISS in this game
- Some responses from Command Hadfield to FAQs about the ISS and being in space
- Lovely answer from Canada’s Commander Hadfield from the ISS on how they use mathematics in space:
- Really great description from ESA on the different stages of Soyuz launch:
Professional or public bodies (events and support for schools)
- Institute of Physics
- UK Space Agency
- Institute of Mechanical Engineers
- Institute of Engineering and Technology
- Royal Aeronautical Society
- Royal Academy of Engineering
- British Computer Society
Careers or university-related
Competitions
- Mission X: Train like an astronaut
- What If Prize
- Cassini: Be a Scientist for a day
- Space Station Robots
- Send your artwork into space with MAVEN
Round-up of UK Opportunities from the UK Space Agency
http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/discover-and-learn/opportunities-for-students
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License