October 2020 Digest

We’ve been delighted with the response to the new Physics and Astronomy community programme and encourage you to visit our blog for all the latest updates.  This October digest, sharing the latest news from our School and whetting your appetites for the opportunities to come.  


Our Community: This month, we’re introducing our “Conversations”posts with profiles of two members of our School, Dr. Simon Vaughn and Cassiopeia Lakin – we hope to expand this series so that everyone in our community get know one another.  These are in addition to the superb series of newsletters prepared by our EDI and PGR teams for Black History Month.  Finally, Leicester has just launched a brand-new Space Engineering Technician apprenticeship, the very first of its kind.


Our Research: October featured ‘World Space Week’ where we celebrated six decades of Leicester space science.  The BepiColombo mission, carrying Leicester hardware, made a close flyby of Venus on its way to Mercury, and we took the opportunity to introduce the MIXS team.  This month also saw the successful verification of the first-ever Lobster X-ray optics assembly for the Chinese-French satellite, SVOM.  And see how Leicester Earth Observers are involved in the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement mission.


New Opportunities:  Lose yourself in the Mariner-9 Mars exhibit at the Attenborough Arts Centre.  Join Libby Jackson (UK Space Agency) in a live Q&A session hosted by the Space Centre on November 4th, to celebrate two decades of work on the International Space Station.  Early-career researchers can enter the STEM for Britain Poster Competition; members of AstRoSoc can take part in weekly challenges with the Kerbal Space Program; and students can consider entering the Telespazio Technology Contest.  Don’t forget that all are welcome to our regular AstroSeminars and PlanetarySeminars, with details given on the blog.


Events:  Read posts on Suzie Imber’s live Science Museum Q&A with Tim Peake; Gabby Provan’s work with the Fermynwoods Contemporary Art centre; and Andrew King blogging about this year’s Nobel prize in Physics.


From the Archive:  Ever wondered why we have a rocket in our foyer?  Find out the history of Leicester’s involvement with SKYLARK sounding rockets.


Get Involved!  With Halloween just around the corner, we’d be delighted to see your Physics- and Astronomy-inspired pumpkin skills – email photos and credits to phys.community@le.ac.uk.   If you have an event to advertise or news to share, please consider submitting a blog post following these instructions– the best content will be included in our 2020 yearbook.  We’d love to hear from you!