A new "hot" topic in science is Astrobiology - the study of life and its evolution and existence within the Universe. The European Space Agency has recently approved a proposal from a UK-led consortium for a small 60kg lander as part of the baseline payload for ESA’s Mars Express mission. This mission is due to be launched in May 2003 with arrival at Mars in December 2003. The UK Lander called Beagle 2 will aim to conduct unique research on the surface of Mars. As well as conducting a geochemical survey of the landing site it will search for signs of past and existing life. The rationale behind attempting astrobiology on Mars will be explained in this lecture and the Beagle 2 project described.
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Dr Mark Sims is currently a Research Fellow in the Space Research Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester. He has worked on 7 space missions and a large number of studies. He has experience in space instrumentation, space systems design, test, calibration, operations and data analysis with project roles ranging from scientist through to launch site support manager, flight operations engineer and project manager. He is currently Beagle 2 Project Manager and had led the technical design of this UK-led Mars lander throughout its study phase through to approval. Dr Sims research interests include space instrumentation, space technology and astrobiology.
No Tickets Required and Visitors Welcome
This Lecture has been organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Space Group. The Lecture will be held in the Society’s Lecture Theatre commencing at 18:00 hrs. Contact: Conference Department, RAeS, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1V 0BQ
Tel: 0171 499 3515 Fax: 0171 493 1438. Email: space@aerosociety.com