MARS attends UKSEDS Conference

The 14th Student Space Conference, hosted by the Kingston University branch of UKSEDS (UK Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) took place on the 16th and 17th of November. MARS were invited to speak having formed strong links with the KUSEDS Rocketry Division. Other speakers at the conference included Dr Karl Doetsch of the International Space University and a video interview with Mark Shuttleworth (South Africa's first astronaut).

The conference was well attended, with representatives from SEDS branches in Cranfield, Glasgow, Kent, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Oxford, Salford, Surrey and the Open University. Exhibitors from industry and academia included Astrium, the British Interplanetary Society, ESA and QinetiQ.

The MARS stand in the exhibition hall drew the crowds with an impressive Black Rock Desert panorama backdrop to Deimos-Odyssey flight hardware and a slick compilation of video footage. Richard Osborne's account of the Deimos Project was well received by students and lecturers alike. New members were signed up, with an encouraging level of interest from university rocketry teams, as well as some extremely positive feedback from the professional bodies exhibiting at the conference.