UK's First Course on Human Space Flight to Be Taught By NASA Astronaut

UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER LAUNCHES NASA astronaut to be teaching at Leicester w/b Nov 24 and December 8

The first UK university course on human space flight to be taught by a NASA astronaut has been launched by the University of Leicester. The University of Leicester, which houses one of Europe's foremost academic space research centres, has built equipment that has been used in space missions in every year since 1969.

Now Jeff Hoffman, a former postdoctoral researcher at the University of Leicester, is returning to the campus as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Head of Department Professor Martin Barstow said: "To my knowledge we are the first UK University to have a NASA astronaut as a member of the teaching staff.

"In appointing Jeff Hoffman to a visiting Professorship, we are providing the undergraduate students in the department with a unique opportunity to learn about human space flight from someone who has flown 5 times on the space shuttle and conducted numerous space walks, including the famous repair to vision of the Hubble Space Telescope.

"As the international space community moves into a new Global Space Exploration Initiative and the European Space Agency recruits a new cohort of astronauts, this will enable graduates from the University of Leicester to play a full role in an exciting future."

The Leicester course begins as the UK prepares for a high-level meeting of European science ministers, at which human space exploration will be discussed.

Professor Barstow added that Leicester students could one day have the chance to participate in human spaceflight programmes taking place outside Britain.

"We have spent a lot of time trying to change the UK Government's mind about participating in human space exploration and made rather slow progress," said Professor Barstow.

"Whatever the Government decides, human space exploration is happening - I want people who come through our degree programmes to have a chance of participating in that."
Prof Hoffman said: "I originally came to the University of Leicester because of the world-class reputation of Leicester's X-Ray Astronomy group and have enjoyed continuing personal and professional ties with University personnel.

"I hope the next decades will see increased UK participation in space exploration and would love to see the University of Leicester play a leading role. I look forward to sharing my experience of space flight with students, giving them an understanding of what is going to be required for what we hope will be a renaissance of space exploration, and in particular to share my ideas about future synergy between humans and robots in this exciting enterprise."

Professor Barstow added: "Jeff is undoubtedly one of NASA's most experienced astronauts and he will bring some of that expertise to help us here with the development of new modules on human space flight and the interaction between robots and humans in space. As the world gears up for a return to the moon and the start of a global exploration strategy to explore Mars with robots and eventually humans, the course taught by Jeff will give our students unique training and expertise to allow them to become part of this exciting endeavour.

"This is an exciting opportunity for students to be inspired by space- to hear first hand experiences of journeys into space from someone who has previously worked at Leicester.

"I have known Jeff for several years because of his close association with Leicester, having studied here in the seventies. I knew he was keen to return. It was just a question of getting the subject matter and the timing right."

· Professor Hoffman will also be giving a public lecture, 'The Hubble Space Telescope: Past, Present and Future' - on 10 December at 7.30pm. To book a place or for more information, please contact Pat Russell on Tel: +44 116 252 3494, Email: par@star.le.ac.uk.

   _   _