Space Week 2025
In February, the Geological Society invited space enthusiasts of all ages to celebrate Space Week – a programme of public engagement and education activities celebrating space and planetary science!
© Geological Society of London
Space for all ages
Designed to ignite curiosity and inspire discovery, Space Week included free, hands-on family activities, the launch of new teaching resources, a special public lecture, and several school workshops that encouraged exploration of extraterrestrial rock samples.
We welcomed attendees into Burlington House to identify meteorites, make and analyse impact craters, and explore how astronauts work and live in space. Attendees could even try their hand at defending Earth against asteroids in our dart game (a nod to the 2021 NASA DART mission, which changed an asteroid’s orbit in the name of planetary defence). We were delighted to offer these activities with support from the UK Space Agency, Royal Astronomical Society, British Geological Survey, and Natural History Museum.
Our public lecture, which discussed lunar exploration in the past, present and future, included a remastered recording of our 1973 William Smith lecture delivered by Apollo astronaut and geologist, Dr Harrison Schmitt, followed by a talk from Dr Giulia Magnarini (Natural History Museum) that linked Apollo’s legacy to the ongoing Artemis programme. The lecture was attended by over 200 people, and the recording is available on the Society’s YouTube channel (youtube.com/user/GeologicalSociety).
Project ORBIT
Space Week is part of a UK Space Agency-funded project, “Using Planetary Science & Space Exploration to Inspire Future Planetary Geoscientists”, informally known as Project ORBIT (Opportunities for Research and Building Interstellar Talents). Through Project ORBIT, the Society has developed a sustainable strategy to integrate planetary geoscience into our education and outreach initiatives, encourage uptake of planetary geoscience at university through to career levels, and focus on the ways we can apply geoscience to investigate the rocky planets, moons and asteroids in our Solar System.
Since the project started in April 2024, we have engaged more than 3,700 people, raising awareness of the subject and inspiring interest in STEM careers. The project’s legacy will see schools and young people across the country using our new extraterrestrial sample handling boxes to interact with real space rocks and 3D-printed impact craters, and provide access to online teaching and career resources, thereby continuing to inspire the next generation to keep looking up, ask questions and seek answers about Earth and its place in our Solar System.
FIND OUT MORE
Find out more about the project: geolsoc.org.uk/orbit
Ana Pagu Planetary Science Education Assistant, Geological Society of London
Megan O’Donnell Head of Policy and Communications, Geological Society of London
Natasha Stephen Director of Science & Engagement, Geological Society of London
© UKSA
