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Twelve months ago saw the opening day with journalists and members of the NEO community descending on the Millennium Commission funded landmark attraction. The launch date of 20 April was chosen to coincide with the 126th anniversary of the Rowton meteorite fall, the UK’s only iron meteorite. Among the guest speakers were Dr Colin Hicks, the Director General of the BNSC and Dr Harry Atkinson, chairman of the NEO Task Force.
In addition to the physical centres at the Space Centre in Leicester, W5 Belfast, Royal Observatory Edinburgh and Natural History Museum London, the NEOIC also has a presence on the web at www.nearearthobjects.co.uk. The site includes a virtual exhibition and a variety of interactive elements, including Virtual Orbits and the NEO Movie. With over 130,000 hits since its launch, the website is proving very popular with those interested in NEO issues. “It is interesting to observe the site statistics soar whenever an NEO story is in the news,” said Kevin Yates, Project Manager for the NEOIC. “It is encouraging that both the public and the media see us as a reliable source of information”.
The first year of operation has also seen a significant amount of outreach activity, as NEOIC representatives have travelled around the country to present talks and workshops. Over 5,000 people have now experienced the ‘Earth Under Threat’ presentation. This involves seeing a comet nucleus being made with ingredients like water, carbon, and dry ice, and an opportunity to ‘Touch a Space Rock’ in the meteorite encounter. Young and old alike are amazed at being given the chance to actually hold one of these 4.5 billion year old leftovers from the formation of our Solar System.
As well as exciting people about the science behind NEO research, the centre aims to reassure the public by giving them access to the latest information in a none sensationalised way. “I’m always disturbed to hear young children telling me the Earth is going to be destroyed by an asteroid in 2019 or 2022,” said Kevin Yates, “the children hear these reports and it sticks with them. It is nice to have the opportunity to put the record straight, and explain why the assessment of risk changes as astronomers are given time to make more observations.”
Another major part of the project has been the opening of the NEO exhibition at the National Space Centre. The exhibition includes IT and physical interactives designed to make some of the complex issues understandable to a family audience. One of the exhibits, called ‘Be a Meteorite Hunter’ gives visitors the chance to identify a meteorite among a selection of terrestrial rocks. The Earth’s cratering record, as well as the need to track NEOs after their discovery, are presented in the form of computer interactives.
Elements of the exhibition will be installed in the Belfast, London and Edinburgh centres before the autumn. Dan Hillier, Manager for the Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre, said “I was really delighted when I first saw the quality of the NEOIC's ‘Earth Under Threat’ presentation. We are really looking forward to an exhibition of similar quality. We have been running NEO sessions for nearly six months now and they have become a very popular and effective part of our public events, outreach and teacher training sessions.”
Over the Easter weekend (19-20 April 2003) the NEOIC will be hosting an egg-travaganza birthday weekend at the National Space Centre. The event includes free activities such as the brand new “Exploding Asteroid” demonstration, comet building, NEO family space missions, an Easter egg hunt, competitions, and lots of fun for all the family.
More info: Event details
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