Ireland’s Space Week accounts for over 13% of the World Space Week proceedings.

With 308 public and school events run throughout the country, Ireland’s inaugural Space Week has come to a close. Organised by CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory in association with Science Foundation Ireland and ESERO Ireland, Space Week activities in Ireland accounted for over 13% of the World Space Week proceedings.

This year’s theme of ‘Our Planet, Our Space, Our Time’ allowed for some very interesting events to take place throughout the week. Some highlights included the European Space Agency’s Professor. Mark McCaughrean, who travelled to Ireland to speak at a space industry day at Dunsink Observatory as well as a public talk in Trinity College Dublin on the Rosetta mission which, after 12 years and 6 billion km, crash-landed on a comet at the end of September.

Irelands only NASA Aquanaut, Marc O Griofa travelled the country to talk about his exciting underwater adventure when he lived some 20 metres under the Atlantic Ocean as part of the NASA NEEMO project. Irish astronomy clubs got involved by hosting free stargazing evenings and hundreds of students took part with their schools by joining in on the TARA Moon project.

Irish Tech News also took part in Space Week with our two Space Week themed podcasts with Jean Francois Clervoy and Tara Foster.

Space Week will return in October 2017.