The English School students talk with NASA JPL

On Friday 4^th October we had the honour of talking to 3 engineers live from NASA JPL in California.  

We learnt about the work they are doing on the Europa Clipper Mission, a mission that was given the green light to go ahead in August this year.  Dr Narek Shougarian spoke to us about Jupiter’s special moon, Europa, which may contain more liquid water than we have here on Earth.  Life developed in the oceans here, this is one of the reasons that Europa could be a candidate for extra-terrestrial life. Andres Rivera, a Systems Engineer on Europa Clipper went through the instrumentation onboard the mission and Priyanka Srivastava from System Verification and Validation Engineering explained the way that the spacecraft will get there.
 
Students had the opportunity to ask questions and talk with the 3 engineers in-depth. After the teleconference, we observed the planet Jupiter through our telescopes, and we actually saw the moon Europa.
 
We also celebrated Stelios Sycallides achievement in the Astrophysics and Astronomy Olympiad, and he shared his experiences.  We were honoured with the presence of Mr Troullias of Kition Planetarium and Observatory, who is Regional Coordinator for World Space Week, he gave a welcome speech for the event.
 
The event was held as part of UN World Space Week which occurs every year between the 4^th and 10^th October.  The global event is an international celebration of science and technology and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.  October 4^th 1957 is a historic day, it was the day sputnik was launched this was the first time humans put something into space.

Further, we would like to thank PMICT for providing technical support and the equipment needed. 
 

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