The sky is NO limit! - poetry competition

 

Ever looked at the night sky and wondered about the stars and our solar system? Ever thought about rockets and space missions and what they may find? Ever thought of writing a poem to celebrate how awesome the Universe is or what our place is in it?

Now could be your chance to write that space-related poem and win a space-related prize. As part of Mullard Space Science Laboratory's science week extravaganza in Dorking, 'The sky's NO limit!', on 20-21 March 2001, we are running a poetry competition. All entries will be displayed at Dorking Halls during the two day event and the winning entries will be Made available to local media!

Winners will be selected for four age groups: under 9, 9-13, 14-18 and over 18. The theme is the sky is NO limit! The judging panel will include representatives from the BBC, British National Space Centre, National Space Science Centre and MSSL. Closing date is 5 March 2001 so hurry!!

Prizes will be awarded during the evening public talk, 'Starry starry night - echoes from the Universe' to be given by Dr Paul Murdin of the British National Space Centre, at Dorking Halls on 20 March at 7.30pm. This illustrated and innovative talk will take the audience on a journey from the big bang to the present day of planets, supernovae and black holes illustrated by poetry, prose and paintings.

The sky is NO limit is an exciting two-day event at Dorking Halls on 20-21 March, during National Science Week 2001. Talks for local schools and the general public during the days will cover topics like the Sun and its effects on Earth, comets, black holes, spacecraft and the use of space. Public displays will include space weather, the night sky, how big is the solar system and some of the laboratory's work with international space science missions like the Cassini mission to Saturn, the Cluster space quartet to Earth's magnetic environment, the Beagle 2 Mars lander part of the Mars Express mission, the SOHO observatory staring at the Sun and the XMM X-ray telescope measuring energetic galaxies beyond our own.

The full programme for the event has been distributed to schools and is available on www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/nolimit or on request from the address below.
Contacts:
Organizers  
Dr Andrew Coates 01483 204145
Dr Rosalind Mist 01483 204269
Lucie Green 01483 204257

MSSL switchboard 01483 274111
MSSL website www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk
The sky's NO limit! website www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/nolimit
Email nolimit@mssl.ucl.ac.uk

Notes:
1. Entries for poetry competition should be sent to:

Poetry Competition
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
University College London
Holmbury St Mary
Dorking RH5 6NT

Or email: poems@mssl.ucl.ac.uk
to arrive NO LATER THAN 5 March 2001 Please state your age group: under 9, 9-13, 14-18, over 18.

2. The Mullard Space Science Laboratory, situated at Holmbury St Mary, is the Department of Space and Climate Physics of University College London. About 120 people work on space science and space engineering. The Laboratory plays key roles in many missions of space exploration. Over 250 instruments have been launched into space to date, to study astrophysics, solar physics, plasma physics and climate physics.

3. The Sky is NO limit! will take place at Dorking Halls on 20-21 March 2001. The sky is NO limit! is an event of National Science Week and is supported in part by COPUS and OST.