Kaiser Spring Lectures: Launching into the Night — a brief history of space exploration
- Date
- Saturday 3 March 2018
- Time
- Explanation
- Ticket: €4,-. Combination ticket with a tour: €8,-
- Address
-
Oude Sterrewacht
Sterrenwachtlaan 11
2311 GW Leiden - Room
- B104: Kaiser Zaal
Space research did not begin with the launch of Sputnik 1 on the 4th of October 1957. Its history goes back more than one thousand years. Using early military rockets, a Chinese man named Wan-Hu — according to the legend — strapped himself to a chair to which 47 rockets were fastened. This was fine in order to “study the heavens”. After ignition Wan-Hu has never been seen again.
It was in the early parts of the 20th century that space research was starting of – first theoretically and then with the efforts of Goddard in the USA and von Braun in Germany in the 1930ties. After WWII, using captured military V2 rockets The Americans began the first scientific launches into space, studying the UV light from the Sun.
In this talk I will outline what happened next, the formation of NASA and ESA, and talk about the high points of space research like the Hubble telescope. I will also talk briefly about where it may lead us in the next few decades.
The Kaiser Spring Lectures consist of four lectures in March. The tickets for the lectures cost € 4, - per person per lecture. The lectures last 45 minutes and are intended for the general public. After each lecture, there will be 15 minutes to ask questions. The same programme applies for each lecture:
| Time | Activity |
| 13:15 - 14:00 | Walk-in with coffee, tea and biscuits |
| 14:00 - 15:00 | Lecture |
| 15:15 - 16:00 | Tour of the Old Observatory |
A addition of €4 must be paid for the guided tour.