The Appleton Space Conference at STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory attracts key players in the field of space every year. This year, in the week NASA announced it will send a new rover to Mars in 2020, the conference has heard from Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Chief Engineer Robert Manning. He described the build-up to the CURIOSITY mission and touched upon what the team had learned from the mission. NASA has said its new rover will be based on the MSL architecture that successfully carried the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars this summer. The conference, in addition, had an update on space medicine, from Professor Kevin Fong from University College, London, who described how the space and health sector can work together to benefit each other.

In the live video address he gave, David Willetts, Minister of State for Universities and Science, said: "Harwell is a crucial centre for space activity. It really is a very dynamic cluster. If we can continue to deliver the science and research programme to sustain and expand the commercial sector, we can look forward to even greater deliverables from the space sector".

Also topical at the conference are the models of two cameras being designed, built and tested by RAL Space to enable a high definition streaming video camera to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS) next year. The cameras, one medium and one high-resolution, will offer an image comparable to much of Google Earth, but in video format.  The medium resolution camera continuously images the Earth as it passes underneath the ISS, whilst the video camera can be steered to target scenes through up to two minutes of uninterrupted video. The images collected will be made available through the Canadian company Urthecast. The project is a joint venture between Canada, Russia and the UK.

ISS Cameras Project Manager Ian Tosh, from RAL Space, said: “We are delighted to be working on these cameras that will offer such novel technology to so many people. While the life-size models are on display at the conference today, the real cameras are currently being worked on by RAL Space staff in our space test facilities. They are undergoing thorough testing both within our thermal vacuum chamber and our vibration test facility, to ensure they will survive the harsh conditions of space”.  

As well as giving us access to world leading technology in space and pushing the boundaries of what we know, space science research has and continues to be, transformed into technology for health and security. For example the techniques needed in the Ultrasound were originally developed for space, as were those used in security scanners.

The Duke of York, who opened the conference in his role as Patron of the Harwell Campus, is a strong advocate for space research and what it does for society and the UK economy. Addressing the conference His Royal Highness said: "If we are going to be a prosperous nation schools, academia and industry must all be in place. Harwell is one clear example of how this co-ordination is working. The space sector is worth 9-10 billion to the UK economy each year and Harwell is at the core of that."

Chairman of the conference, and RAL Space Director Professor Richard Holdaway, said; “The Duke of York has been a strong and vocal ambassador for British industry, and has been particularly supportive of the UK space industry. We are very fortunate to have His Royal Highness as Patron of the Harwell Campus and delighted to have him at the Appleton conference today.”

Also at the conference, new Turner Prize winner Elizabeth Price from the collaboration Invisible Dust* gave a talk. Elizabeth is currently the first Artist in Residence at RAL Space funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The conference closes with the 8th Appleton Space Lecture: ‘Is Astronomy always this exciting?’ which will be given by Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell FRS from the University of Oxford.

Notes to editors:

The contribution of the space sector to the UK economy was £9.1B for 2010/2011. With an average annual growth rate of 7.5%, the continued contribution of space to the economy is a remarkable success in the current conditions. These figures are from the UK Space Agency’s latest report on the ‘Size and Health of the UK Space Sector’. The Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, announced the figures at the Farnborough International Airshow in July 2012.

*For more information about Invisible Dust, visit: http://invisibledust.com/