One of Only Twelve Men to Walk on the Moon Lands in Leicester STEM Clubs

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One of Only Twelve Men to Walk on the Moon Lands in Leicester

One of Only Twelve Men to Walk on the Moon Lands in Leicester

There are over 6 billion people on Earth. Five hundred of those have gone into space, but only 12 of them have ever walked on the surface of another world. Charlie Duke is one of those men and on 20 November 2009 a lucky group of over 80 students from across the UK attended a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) educational event to meet him and learn the secrets of space exploration.

They were invited to the National Space Centre in Leicester to meet the famous NASA astronaut, who became the tenth and youngest man to walk on the moon in 1972. In addition the students participated in workshops linked to space exploration, astronomy and physics. The students were chosen because of their schools’ links with the STEM Clubs Network.

Charlie Duke gave an inspiring talk to the students and teachers about his experiences and answered their questions about science and space. Students worked on experiments linked to space exploration, assisted by over 25 STEM Ambassadors from local businesses such as Rolls Royce, e.ON Engineering, and the BBC. Experiments included programming rover robots to drive on a replicated Martian surface that is currently used by UK Space Industry leader Astrium to test their multi-million pound ExoMars robot prior to its journey to Mars in 2016.

STEM Ambassadors are professionals using STEM skills who volunteer as inspiring role models for young people. There are over 19,000 STEM Ambassadors across the UK and they are free for schools to access.