Fwd: Request to publicise the Initiative for Interstellar Studies to members of Abingdon Astronomical Society
This may be of interest.
Chris
| Subject: | Request to publicise the Initiative for Interstellar Studies to members of Abingdon Astronomical Society |
|---|---|
| Date: | Thu, 23 Apr 2020 10:13:26 +0100 |
| From: | John I Davies |
Dear Abingdon Astronomical Society
I am writing on behalf of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), a UK-based international membership organisation which promotes technical research into, and education about, interstellar exploration. We are keen to make links with other UK-based membership organisations interested in space-related activities, and our team members are therefore writing to all UK astronomical societies. I would be grateful if you would consider publicising our work to your members in your society’s member communications.
We support interstellar education and research from secondary schools through to university, including the Master’s programme at the International Space University, Strasbourg, and two successive Summer Schools at the Royal Institution. We also offer a Starship Engineer course for anyone with a general interest in interstellar studies. Our researchers publish in peer-reviewed journals, including Acta Astronautica and the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society.
One of our most prominent pieces of technical research is Project Lyra, a feasibility study for a mission to send a robotic space probe to 1I/'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever to be discovered (in 2017) flying through our solar system. Project Lyra attracted the attention of both specialist and general media including New Scientist, Scientific American, NBC News, IEEE Spectrum and the London Review of Books. Further papers have refined the Lyra concepts including missions to interstellar comet 2I/Borisov.
We publish a free quarterly magazine, Principium, which your members can subscribe to. The most recent issue (number 28, published in February) can be downloaded from https://i4is.org/publications/principium . In recent issues, Principium has included articles such as:
- What do we really know about the outer solar system?’ (The Third Edward Weaver Lecture on Astronomy), by Dr Phil Sutton (University of Lincoln)
- ‘All Comets Great and Small’ (Report of the Inaugural Lecture of Professor Geraint Jones, University College London)
- Interstellar Objects – Oumuamua, Borisov & objects in between’
- Book review: ‘The Planet Factory’, by Dr Elizabeth Tasker
- News item: ‘Amateur astronomers join hunt for exoplanets’
I have attached a copy of our introductory leaflet, which we use at talks and events. If you were willing to share this with your members, we would be most grateful. If your society runs a programme of talks, and might be interested in a talk about our work, do please get in touch. We are an all-volunteer organisation with people based throughout the UK and in other countries worldwide.
I hope that the work of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies may be of interest to your members. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@PROTECTED
Best wishes,
John Davies
i4is Outreach Team
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Chris Holt, Secretary, Abingdon Astronomical Society Date:
