The
history of the Space Education Trust
The
Space Education Trust (SET) is a charitable trust
established in 1987, by Jerel Whittingham and Justin
Paynes. It was originally chaired by Roy Gibson. founding
Director General of both the
European Space Agency (ESA),
and of the
British National Space Centre (BNSC).
Its
aim is
to promote space education through:
•
Promoting space as an educational tool to promote science
and technology with young people.
• Education of the general public regarding
space.
•
Demonstrating that space encompasses many important fields
in academia, industry, commerce and
entertainment.
The
initial project of the Space Education Trust was to ensure
that the UK participated in the
International Space University
(ISU)
project then being proposed, to find and select students to
attend the ISU and, most imprtantly, to raise the funds
necessary to sponsor their attendance. At a cost of $10,000
per student, this proved difficult but not impossible, and
in 1988, 10 british students attended the inaugural session
of the ISU at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT).
Our activities in this area have continued, anda total of
over 50 British students have now been able to attend the
ISU. At the same time, we have sought to broaden our
support of the fields of space education and awareness,
with a small number of projects when funds allow.
In addition, the SET has acted as the trustees of
UKSEDS,
the UK chapter of the Students for the Exploration and
Development of Space.
The Space Education Council is the operational arm of the
SET.
