Astronaut to launch new Leicestershire education initiative

Former NASA astronaut and current Deputy Director of Science and Exploration at the Goddard Space Flight Centre, Dr Piers Sellers, will be visiting the National Space Centre on 8th November to launch the new post-16 Space Engineering course at Loughborough College.

This new course is due to start in September 2012 with students from across the UK studying A-levels in physics and mathematics, plus a BTEC level 3 diploma in engineering.

The course is to be jointly delivered by Loughborough College and the National Space Centre, including physics and mathematics delivery in the National Space Academy Science Lab in Leicester.

Designed to give students experience in both academic and vocational sides of learning, the new course will be unique in the UK wide educational sphere and has been created by both organisations to pull on the huge knowledge base within the East Midlands.

A visit from Dr Sellers will help to highlight the important of subjects like maths and physics to the space industry and how studying these areas can lead to remarkable jobs and careers.

Dr Sarah Hill, Project Manager for the National Space Academy based at the award winning National Space Centre, said: "We are excited and delighted to be working with Loughborough College on a course that is a gateway for young people into an industry that currently contributes £7.5bn to the UK economy and employs close to 24,000. There are amazing opportunities for the students to learn from the industry and discover the plethora of exciting employment opportunities available to them."

Born in Sussex, Dr Sellers studied at the University of Edinburgh and Leeds University prior to his departure to the United States to begin his career with NASA.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-112 Atlantis (October 7-18, 2002), STS-121 Discovery (July 4-17, 2006) and STS-132 Atlantis (May 14-26, 2010)