AIS OUTREACH PROGRAMME

CHRISTMAS IN SPACE PRESENTATIONS (England and Wales only) available from 1st - 19th December. Click here for details

INTRODUCTION

AIS MISSION STATEMENT

Inspiring future generations of potential space scientists and explorers

Science is a very important part of the curriculum, which boosts the imagination and creativity of all pupils.  It opens new avenues for discovery both on earth and beyond, in space.

Let us bring space down to earth and into your classroom.

We would like to introduce our school outreach programme to you which not only covers science but covers many other areas of the curriculum. For over ten years Astro Info Service Limited has been delivering a wide range of presentations and participation workshops to various academic establishments.  Since 2002 we have been working in conjunction with Setpoint/STEM organisations across the Midlands and throughout Wales delivering an ever expanding programme mainly to primary schools but which can be adapted for any age group.  This is now available across a wider region covering England and Wales. Delivering programmes in Scotland and Ireland are available upon discussion.

As part of this programme, we would like to offer our services to your school. At Home in Space is our most popular show and tell presentation which is appropriate for all age and social groups. This is an excellent introduction to our services and provides the structure upon which to develop more in-depth, hands on activities on follow up visits.

Our space presentation/workshop programme features a cross curriculum support portfolio. This programme has proven to be highly successful with pupils, teachers, educational establishments and social groups. We have delivered programmes to pupils ranging from pre-school through to university and after dinner talks. We feel sure that we can offer a valuable and useful service to support your teaching of science and technology at your school.   To support our education programme, AIS Ltd holds all relevant insurances, risk assessment and security documentation. David J. Shayler FBIS will deliver the programme. Dave is the Director of AIS Ltd, an acknowledged space flight historian and has been studying the development of human space exploration for almost 40 years.  The author of over 20 books, in excess of 500 articles Dave’s work has been referenced in numerous other publications across the world. He has conducted research at NASA and in Russia, and has a close working contact with many current and former astronauts and cosmonauts.  In 1989, Dave applied for a seat into space with the Russians via the UK project Juno, although not selected for the single seat into space, Dave progressed further than expected.  In May 1991 Helen Sharman successfully became the first Briton to fly in space under the Project Juno programme.

From the passion and enthusiasm born from witnessing the Apollo moon landings, Dave’s desire to collate and distribute information on human space flight resulted in establishing Astro Info Service in 1982.  This allowed a base from which to develop a programme of school activities on space exploration to encourage and inspire the next generation into the field of science.

These pages introduce our programme to you to help broaden your awareness of what we can offer to your school. A close communication between us and your school is essential during the booking process, to ensure a total understanding of the activities and to gain maximum benefit for all involved.

The AIS  educational outreach programme is designed to be delivered in a series of flexible programmes.  Initially, we like present the show and tell programme to give an insight of living in space. We then progress onto the mini or full workshop programme.   This totally depends on the amount of pupils and programme chosen.

We look forward to hearing from to discuss your requirements in the near future. As our programme is highly popular with schools, we would suggest an early booking to avoid disappointment.

To find out more about our OUTREACH programme, click on the SCHOOLS button.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SPACE EDUCATION

The mysteries of space have fascinated humans for centuries and understanding how space “works” has been one of the earliest topics of “education” for, perhaps thousands of years.  When humans first became aware of the heavens above them, a combination of mystery, mystique, wonder and at times fear became what we now understand as astronomy and astrology. Religious beliefs and the development of the sciences have, over eons evolved into the study of the mysteries and phenomena that we call “Our Universe”. The exploration and exploitation of space is an on going education for all of us as we live on a planet that survives in space. We are all astronauts on SPACESHIP EARTH and understating not only what we are doing in space but why we explore is of benefit to us all.  The challenge of the space programme, is to try to explain the importance of the programme and how it benefits us all everyday by understanding how our planet and others across our solar system and beyond work and what makes our planet so special to support life as we know it would allow us to  improve conditions and temperament here on earth. All space explorers attempt to convey the wonder of the universe and the special impression earth make on them when viewed from space.

The long term goal of the world’s space programmes, is one of global, international and peaceful exploration of our nearest planets leading to eventual journeys towards our nearest stars. The current goal of today’s space programme is to educate, not only the younger generation of future space explorers, but also the general public and worlds governments. Space education has been part of the space programme since we first placed satellites into earth orbit in the late 1950’s and has continued to grow along with the programme to now include dedicated student experiments and participation in leading space projects and flying educator astronauts. former professional teachers on missions to help spread the word to larger audiences, who in turn will fund, govern, build, manage and operate the future programmes that will, in time take us back to the moon, to Mars and beyond.

Space education continues to be an integral element of all the world’s space agencies. Eventually, it could be foreseen that future space education facilities, could be placed on the moon, mars or large cities in space. The ultimate training facility for spaceflight is space itself, therefore, the appropriate educational network should include schools, universities and training facilities, both on and off earth.

Today the space agencies of America, Europe and Asia all operate a space education programme The first experiments provided by students, were those flown on the American space station SKYLAB in the early 1970’s.  The Skylab Student Project proved very popular both with students and astronauts alike and generated interest for a similar project on the space shuttle and subsequently space station.  Several astronauts have also taken the opportunity during TV downlinks and off duty at the time, to film and demonstrate the wonders of micro gravity in what has become known as “Saturday Morning Science Lessons”.  Such was the interest in space education, that the first teacher in space candidate, Christa McAuliffe was selected, in 1985, to fly on the space shuttle the following year and conduct televised lessons entitles “The Ultimate Field Trip”, tragically Christa was killed in the launch explosion of Challenger in January 1986. Her backup, Barbara Morgan, continued her association with NASA and the teacher in space project for many years, finally being selected as a career astronaut in 1998 and flying to the International Space Station on STS-117 in 2007 to continue the work begun by her fellow colleague and friend Christa McAuliffe. At the time of Barbara’s flight, other career teachers had been selected by NASA as Educator Mission Specialists who will fly future missions and then tour the schools around the country to inspire a new generation of explorers.  

Astro Info Service Limited is dedicated to support this education of space from foundation stages to senior years and beyond.  In addition to our outreach programme of show and tell presentations and participation workshops, we offer a broad range of published support material and resources that, in addition to helping teachers provides the student with real insight into the workings and aims of the space programme both in history, current operations and future developments.