Special
tributes to Sir Arthur Clarke:
Sir Arthur passed away on March
18, just over a week before the 2008 awards event.
The evening began with a tribute in words and pictures from special effects
wizard Mat Irvine. This was followed by some words from Peter Marshall
of the Arthur C Clarke Foundation, and the tributes were rounded off by
a video message from Sir Patrick Moore.
Special
item - The George Abbey Award:
-
The Reliant Robin Team (Link)
The decision to create this
award was made after watching an amazing presentation the night before
the 2007 awards, which showed something we felt just had to be recognised.
The award is named for our special guest that year, George Abbey, former
Director of the Johnson Space Centre in Houston. George had really enjoyed
his time here, especially watching the activities of a certain rocketry team,
and the award went "to the team whose space achievement made us laugh
the most" - The Reliant Robin Team!
There was no time to produce a glass award last year, so they were given
paper ones - but this year we had a glass trophy, which was presented
by George Abbey to team members Damien Hall and Colin Rowe.
Best
Corporate/Team Achievement:
-
The Mars Express Team(Link)
This was presented by Alistair
Scott of EADS Astrium, prime sponsors of the UK Space Conference.
The award was accepted on behalf of the Project Manager Rudi Schmidt by
Michael Witting and Joe Pereira, who had flown over from ESTEC in The
Netherlands to be at he event.
In a message
sent from Rudi Schmidt, he said;
"Mars express was a great experience
for all of us. Team spirit involving our partners in industry and academia
was fundamental for the success. The spacecraft and its scientific instruments
were supposed to be developed on a low budget-fast track basis and yet
meeting the highest expectations by the scientists and the general public.
Since early 2004, the tremendous scientific results confirm that ESA together
with European industry and the principal Investigators team have achieved
this goal.”
Best Individual Achievement
-
Ian Taylor MP (Link)
The winner of the award for
Best Individual Achievement was Ian Taylor, for his work in promoting
UK space activity, which includes co-chairing the All Party Parliamentary
Space Group, and for his efforts to promote the uptake of STEM subjects
- Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - the subjects that
will be needed by the next generation if the UK is to be a world player.
In his response, Ian said;
"Sir Arthur was a tremendous character who did so much to promote
science and space to many people well beyond their normal catchment. He
was a great influence on me. First through his work on Dan Dare in the
Eagle. Later in Parliament both when I served as Space Minister and pursuing
all my space-related activities. He undoubtedly was influential in persuading
otherwise reluctant MPs and the public of engaging with space."
Best
Student Achievement
-
Alison Gibbings (Link)
This was presented by Victoria
Reid, Chair of UK-SEDS (Students for the Explorations and Development
of Space). Alison has recently gained a Masters in Aerospace engineering
with Astronautics which was closely followed by winning a medal in the
student competition at IAC in Hyderabad. The most notable achievement,
though, has to be her selection or the 2007 NASA academy at the Goddard
Space Center. She was picked as the first and sole representative of Europe
and ESA, and her success has led to NASA continuing this opportunity for
European students next year.
Best
TV/Radio Presentation:
-
"Britain's Space Race" by Martin Redfern and Heather Couper
(Link)
The winner of this award
was announced by the producer of BBC TV's "Space Odyssey", Chris
Riley.
"Britain's Space Race" is the latest radio production from a partnership that has been making
space and astronomy radio programmes for more than 20 years, informing
and inspiring an international audience with the thrills and mysteries
of space. This programme, broadcast on Radio 4's "Archive Hour", was
a unique and crafted analysis of the UK's rocketry history.
Best
Written Presentation:
-
"Jane's Spaceflight Directory" by David Baker
The award for Best Written
Presentation was announced by Peter Marshall from the Arthur C Clarke Foundation.
The award went to "a monumental tome as all-inclusive and authoritative as one would expect from a Jane's publication. An excellent and valuable reference."
Best
Film Presentation:
-
In The Shadow Of The Moon (Link)
Although this category has existed since the beginning of the Arthurs,
this is the first time that it has been awarded.
It went to "In The Shadow of the Moon", which has been described
as "An awesome and inspiring film. An excellent and moving account
of the Apollo programme. A story told with sensitivity and restrained
passion. The definitive Moonwalker's interview and film production."
The award was presented by two members of "The Rocket Men", Damian
Hall and Colin Rowe, and was accepted on behalf of the Director, David
Sington, by the film's Producer, Duncan Copp.
Achievement
in Education:
-
The Faulkes Telescope Project - Director: Paul Roche (Link)
The winner of this particular
award is voted for by members of the Space Education Council. Presenting
the award was last year’s winner; director of the International
Space School Education Trust, Chris Barber.
The scale and ambition and most importantly the dedication in what the
project is trying to achieve is having the most impressive impact on astronomy
in schools. They are not only teaching children, but training teachers
so they can pass on their knowledge to subsequent generations, and they
are capturing schoolchildren's imaginations.
Best Space Reporting:
-
Spaceflight magazine: Editor, Clive Simpson (Link)
The award for Best Space Reporting was presented by last year's winner,
Robin Scagell.
The winner was "Spaceflight", the monthly magazine of the British
Interplanetary Society, edited by Clive Simpson. "Spaceflight"
was first produced in 1956 and so has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Inspiration
Award:
-
Pier Sellars (Link)
Thia was announced by the man in charge
of the surface science package on the highly successful Huygens probe
which landed on Saturn's moon, Titan - John Zarnecki.
Piers is that rare commodity - a British
born astronaut! Unfortunately, he has to wear the Stars & Stripes
on his space-suit instead of the Union Jack, but that has not prevented
him doing extensive work to promote space to young people and to the UK
Government.
Accepting the award on Piers' behalf was X-15 and Space Shuttle pilot
Joe Engle, who will make the presentation in Houston at the NASA Award
Ceremony.
Outreach
Award for the Public Promotion of Space:
-
Maggie Aderin (Link)
The award was presented
by someone who passionately believes in this activity, a distinguished
member of our judging panel - head of science for the European Space Agency,
David Southwood.
Maggie has been promoting space activities over a number of years and
recently produced a DVD celebrating space exploration in the UK. SShe
has also set up Science Innovation Ltd to promote publci understanding
of science. She is at home just as much on “Women's Hour” as she is in
front of a class of students. She does as number of outreach activities
and has presented to and inspired approximately 4,500 schoolchildren over
the past year
Space
Entrepreneur:
-
Alan Bond (Link)
This is a new award for
2008, and was presented by one of our special guests - former astronaut
Joe Engle.
Alan has undertaken pioneering research into space launch systems for over 20 years. He invented the RB545 hybrid engine for Hotol and subsequently the Sabre engine for the Skylon Reusable Launch Vehicle. This system could reduce the cost of access to space by more than an order of magnitude. His work has attracted several million pounds of private investment and it now seems likely that a substantial investment by ESA will shortly be forthcoming. Through his company, Reaction Engines Ltd., Alan has continued the work of legendary pioneers such as Sir Frank Whittle..
Lifetime
Achievement Award:
-
Sir Martin Sweeting (Link)
The award for Best Space
Reporting was presented by last year's winner, Eric Brown.
The Surrey Space Centre, at the University of Surrey, grew out of the
vision that Sir Martin has pursued of the versatility, cost effectiveness
and increasing usefulness of small satellites. Today large Space Agencies
have small satellite programmes in recognition of the fast turn around
and ability to employ latest technologies in space. Thanks to the pioneering
work of Sir Martin, Surrey is well ahead of the research in this field
with over 20 years of experience in the design, build, launch and operation
of small satellites.
Download a copy of the News Release here (Word file).
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