Become a Scientist for a Day on the Cassini Mission to Saturn. Young scientists are invited to take control of the Cassini spacecraft. Three potential targets have been identified by mission staff and they get to choose the one that Cassini takes an image of. Students have to make their scientific argument in a maximum of 500 words.

The entries will be judged by Professor Carl Murray, the only UK member of the Cassini Imaging team. There are three age categories for judging: 11-13, 14-16 and 17-18. There will be a winner selected from each category. Each winner will receive a goody bag from the European Space Agency and the winning essays will go on both ESA’s and NASA’s websites. The winner of the 17-18 age group will get the chance to spend a week working with Professor Carl Murray at Queen Mary, University of London.
The deadline for submissions is 3rd December at 5pm GMT. The results of the judging will be announced in early 2013.

All essays and enquiries should be sent to cassini@sepnet.ac.uk Details can be viewed here:

Odysseus is a pan-European scientific contest for your people (between 14 and 18 years old) focused on three themes: solar system, spaceship-global cooperation, and co-evolution of life. The participants will have to create a collaborative team with up to 5 members, under the supervision of a teacher/mentor, to design and demonstrate an innovative project.

The contest will open from 1st of July 2012 to 31st of January 2013, when students can submit their projects. First a national selection, by researchers in the field, will choose a winner in each of the 3 themes. The national winners will compete at the European level, and the finalist in each of the 3 themes will be invited to present their projects and assist in the awards ceremony at Space Expo.
The Odysseus project aims to inspire European youth, by motivating and developing students’ knowledge in science, technology and collaboration through their active participation in a research project.  It also informs and encourages students to follow careers in science.

For science teachers, ODYSSEUS provides the opportunity to increase student interest and to interact with researchers. ODYSSEUS is designed to allow teachers and students to become involved easily by providing them sample lessons and material explaining the project and on the website. It will also allow the teachers to develop innovative teaching techniques.

More details on how to participate

Let the space games begin! Mini satellites floating in the International Space Station are on their marks. Competition rules for the Zero Robotics space game will be unveiled on Saturday with a webcast live from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA.

The Zero Robotics high school tournament challenges students to write algorithms that control Spheres − short for Synchronised Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites – on the International Space Station. The volleyball-sized satellites have their own power, propulsion and navigation systems.

Students can follow the event this Saturday, 8 September at 17:00 GMT (19:00 CEST) via web streaming, and tweet questions to the organisers. Contenders will receive crucial information about the game, its rules and even tips to cross the finish line ahead of the opposition.

More details on how to participate

This year, the summer workshops for secondary science teachers will be held from 10 to 13 July. Application should be submitted by 4 June 2012 at 09:00 CET.
The third in a series of summer workshops organised by ESA will be held at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Financial support for travel expenses up to €400 is available to teachers from ESA Member and Cooperating States selected to participate in the workshop. There is no fee for the workshop, and accommodation will be organised and covered by ESA directly.

More  details and how to apply

Sean Sherlock T.D. Minister for Research and Innovation launched a report on the impact of Irish research and innovation in Space technologies titled “Ireland’s Space Endeavours’ at the forum. Published by Enterprise Ireland it features 19 case studies on companies that have successfully engaged in European Space Agency programmes.

Speaking to the companies and researchers who are at the forefront of Ireland’s space endeavours, Minister Sherlock said “the overall objective of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is to get the Irish economy back on the right path to sustainable, export-driven, innovative and enterprise-led growth. Ireland’s participation in the ESA space programmes can be seen in the context of an ongoing industrial stimulus and has provided an effective means for Irish researchers and companies, many of them SMEs, to develop new opportunities in space related and other markets.” See full press release