Space Park Leicester announces return of the George Fraser Memorial Lecture series
Space Park Leicester is delighted to announce the return of the George Fraser Memorial Lecture series
American astronomer Dr Kenneth Sembach, from the Space Telescope Science Institute will deliver the seventh lecture in the series – A New Look at the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope at the National Space Centre’s planetarium, Exploration Drive, Leicester, on Thursday, April 27.
Dr. Sembach is an experienced, results-focused leader with a proven track record of successful outcomes for highly complex initiatives. His extensive experience with government, corporate, academic, international, and public partners has helped humanity explore the wonders of the universe. His passion is assembling diverse groups of people to achieve extraordinary outcomes that serve the greater good.
The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most ambitious and powerful space observatories ever constructed. Designed to image and analyse the infrared light of the universe from a vantage point 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, it is both an engineering marvel and scientific discovery machine.
New insights it has provided about the properties of planets in our Solar System, unique measurements of the atmospheres of planets orbiting nearby stars, and exquisite views of galaxies across the entire expanse of the cosmos are already changing the way we think about how planets, stars, and galaxies formed and evolved over time.
A high-profile, experienced space scientist, Dr Sembach, was Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute for seven years an 800-person non-profit multi-disciplinary organisation that operates both the Hubble and Webb space telescopes, a role from which we recently stepped down.
Dr Kenneth Sembach from from the Space Telescope Science Institute will deliver the seventh lecture remembering Professor George Fraser at the National Space Centre.
Professor Martin Barstow, at Space Park Leicester said: “We are delighted to invite people to attend our seventh talk in the series developed in memory of Professor George Fraser. In this talk Ken will share some behind-the-scenes background about the history and commissioning of the observatory as well as describe some of its recent scientific discoveries that are taking astronomical research in new directions.”
This lecture series is in memory of Professor George Fraser, Director of the Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester (2002 – 2014), who died unexpectedly on 18th March 2014.
Guests on the day will be able to attend for free.
For further information and to book your place visit:
George Fraser Memorial Lecture – A new look at the Universe with the James Webb Space Telescope – 27 April 2023 (15:30 – 16:15)