Red planet talks set for UQ

Two internationally acclaimed science communicators will discuss their thoughts on the planet Mars at a free University of Queensland public lecture.

Nigel Henbest and Heather Couper, better-known as the “Hencoups”, will discuss The inside story of the red planet on Tuesday, July 22 from 6–8pm in the Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, St Lucia campus.

“The ‘Hencoups’ are often referred to as Britain’s public face of space. They are both astrophysicists who have devoted themselves to the communication and popularisation of science and astronomy,” said co-organiser Aaron Tan, UQ publicity manager for the Mars Gravity Biosatellite (MGB) program, a unique student-led international collaboration involving UQ.

“They have written more than 60 books on space and are co-founders of Hencoup Enterprizes, a science and media consultancy group in Britain, as well as Pioneer Productions, one of the United Kingdom’s leading television networks presenting factual and scientific programs.

The MGB program involves students from UQ, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Washington.

The program aims to design, build and operate a satellite to carry a crew of mice into low Earth orbit in simulated Mars-level gravity.

The four-week flight is set to blast-off in 2005 and is expected to be the longest orbital free-flight biological experiment ever attempted without humans on board.

Mr Tan said the results of the project would hopefully enable final planning for human missions to Mars.

The public lecture is sponsored by the MGB program and the British Council Australia.

Media: For information about the seminar, contact Mr Tan (mobile 0438 155 812, email s4024617@student.uq.edu.au), MGB UQ Development Manager Michael Baker (telephone 07 3365 3614, email s4010195@student.uq.edu.au) or Joanne van Zeeland at UQ Communications (telephone 07 3365 2619). For information about the MGB program, contact the Mars Gravity UQ Project Office (telephone 07 3365 3614, email info@marsgravity.org).