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ROBERT HILL GOES ON THE ULTIMATE OUTREACH VISIT
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| At the end of
May, Armagh Planetarium presenter, Robert
Hill was delighted to be invited, by the United
Nations Education Scientific and Cultural
Office (UNESCO), to join the Space consultation
team travelling to Nigeria for a week. The
purpose of the visit was to encourage young
people to engage in Space-related activities
and visit several universities linked to Astronomy
and Earth Observation throughout the Nigerian
region. |
| The team consisted of Dr Yolanda Berengyeur,
Director of the UNESCO Space Education programme,
Dr Alice Lee, Head of United Nations Office
of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Jim Volp
, consultant on the SMART-1 project and Robert. |
| The team arrived in Lagos,
home of approximately 12 million people in
the evening around 10pm and the first thing
that was very noticeable was the tremendous
heat. Even in the evening, the temperature
would climb above 30 degrees Celsius, with
humidity around 90%. Very sticky indeed! |
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| Their first
visit was to the city of Abuja, the new capitol
of Nigeria. Here, they would give presentations
to pupils from local schools and keynote addresses
to members of the National Space Research
and Development Agency. As you can observe
from the images below, the events were a great
success with full houses for every presentation.
During discussions the team learnt how the
Federal Ministry of Science and Technology
has set out a very impressive 20 year plan
for Outer Space and how proud they are at
having their very own satellite for Earth
Observation. The team also had the opportunity
to meet several key persons involved in the
science, communication and education of Space-related
activities and learnt how the Nigerian officials
were using Earth Observation and Space for
outreach in schools throughout Nigeria. |
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| The next adventure
took the UN team by car and aeroplane to the
university town of Lle-Ife. The town lies
in the middle of the jungle and is home to
the Obafemi Awolowo University and the African
Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology
Education. Here, presentations were given
to over 500 pupils and officials, including
a donation of a telescope to the facility,
courtesy of UNESCO. Robert managed to pack
in his case the good old air rockets (this
raised eyebrows at the airports!) and the
image at the top of this page shows how something
so simple can captivate the imaginations of
all ages. Robert hoped to do some observing
and make the most of the dark unpolluted skies,
but the heat haze made the atmosphere opaque
and he could not see anything, for the whole
trip! |
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| The teams' final destination
led them further north to another university
town Enugu, and the university at N'sukka.
This is the centre for Astronomy in Nigeria
and they gave presentations to university
students regarding the opportunities that
can be realised with a science and engineering
background. |
| The entire visit was very
worthwhile and the warmth and hospitality
of the hosts and the enthusiasm of the pupils
and teachers gives hope for the future of
this fascinating country. |
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ARMAGH
PLANETARIUM, COLLEGE HILL, ARMAGH, BT61
9DB TEL: 028 3752 3689
© 2003 ARMAGH PLANETARIUM
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