What do weather forecasts, Google maps, measuring air pollution and flood management have in common? They all rely on observation of the Earth from space. A group of Year 8 students visited RAL on Feb 13th to learn about these and some of the many other applications of satellite observations of the Earth. The girls enjoyed talks describing the use of satellites from several different scientists, entrepreneurs and  business leaders before taking part in a "speed dating" session where they spent 5 minutes with each of 12 different organisations, finding out what they did and about the possible career opportunities available. The growing UK space industry doesn't just need scientists, engineers and software developers; it will also need project managers, communications officers, administrators,  lawyers and workers in many other roles.

The girls came away with an appreciation of the importance of satellites to our everyday lives and a realisation of how the subjects that they study at school are linked to real world applications. They also found out that the sky is not the limit for career opportunities for people with maths and science qualifications: they could one day be working in the space sector!