In Peques and Más we like to talk about Astronomy and we are especially attentive to all initiatives that have to do with the creation of specialized scientific vocations. So the news that ESA, INTA and INSA allocate five telescopes for educational purposes could not be overlooked.
And it is that the three institutions have signed a collaboration agreement in education so that Spanish and European high school and university students can use one of the radio telescopes from their classrooms of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Spain in addition to four more contributed by ESA, the INTA (National Institute of Aerospace Technology) and the public company Engineering and Aerospace Services (INSA). The initiative is called CESAR project (acronym in English for Cooperation through Space Science and Astronomy Education) and has just been presented at the European Space Astronomy Center (ESAC) of ESA and is in Villanueva de la Cañada, in Madrid.
The VIL-1 antenna, 15 meters in diameter and operating since 1974, is the ESA radio telescope used for the Herschel and XMM-Newton projects. It allows observing the farthest galaxies in infrared light and in X-rays and the objective is to investigate the origin of the universe.
In addition, the two optical telescopes of CESAR allow to detect the same type of light that the human eye sees. These are at the NASA station of Robledo de Chavela (Madrid) and Cebreros (Ávila). Cebreros is one of the three antennas available to ESA worldwide to communicate and control its interplanetary missions and space telescopes farthest from Earth.
One of the most exciting issues is that As all telescopes are robotic, students can control them from their classrooms thanks to the software developed by the scientists and engineers of the CESAR project. The connections will be made using internet So the management can be done by schools in any part of the world. It also seems that it is planned to include more categories of users such as amateur astronomical groups, professional astronomers and so-called alert networks that identify changes in space such as the appearance of supernovae.
The goal is that Together with their tutors, students will be able to make astronomical night and solar observations, and download the corresponding data for further analysis. In addition, the project allows collaborations in which student groups develop new or improve instrument control programs.
Now The challenge is to create agreements with Spanish educational centers and throughout Europe. Currently, both ESA and INSA and INTA are already collaborating with educational institutions. In addition, European students will receive updated information on the opportunities offered in the CESAR program through the ESA education page.
I think it's a great initiative to promote the dissemination of astronomy among the kids although the fundamental challenge is to be able to make a career with the young students who have in this project a lever on which to get a job with a very high technical specialization.
