Space Week
14-22 September 2019
In 2019, it’s 50 years since the first moon landing. It is acknowledged with a space week that looks both back and forward in time, from history to the future, into space and back to Earth.
In west of Sweden The Space Week offers a broad program around the importance of space for innovation, inspiration, science, industry, research, environment, sustainability, societal benefits, culture, art and creativity. The program caters to all ages and consists of a multitude of activities.
The program is updated continuously and you’ll find it under the menu Program.
Partners
Space Week brings together various participating partners and sponsors around the theme of space. Would you like to contribute? Please contact Catrin Mattsson through info@rymdveckan.se or by phone +46 8-652 43 00.
Current partners/participants
- Alfons Åbergs Kulturhus
- Chalmers
- GKN Aerospace
- Göteborgs Universitet
- Hasselbladstiftelsen
- Näringslivsgruppen Göteborg & Co
- Universeum
- Västra Götalandsregionen
The Global objectives
The Space week supports the global sustainable development goals aimed at eliminating extreme poverty, reducing inequalities and injustices in the world, promoting peace and justice, and solving the climate crisis. These are divided into 17 milestones, which are aimed at the year 2030. The space week contributes to several of these milestones through activities that support sustainable development, education and inclusive societies, among other things.
When you look at the earth with perspectives from space it becomes clear that we humans have only one home planet, common to all of us who live here. While space is infinite, the earth has limited resources. We humans need to take care of our planet and each other.
The global goals are the most ambitious agenda for sustainable development that the world’s countries have ever adopted and are there to achieve four amazing things for the year 2030: Eliminating extreme poverty. To reduce inequalities and inequalities in the world. To promote peace and justice. To solve the climate crisis.
Space in western Sweden
Western Sweden is a strong space region. There is a successful space industry with both large and small companies and outstanding space and world-class education. The region has a long history of space. Cameras from Hasselblads in Gothenburg were included in all the missions of the Apollo programme. Space brings together several actors around knowledge, innovation and creativity for all ages.
Moon landing
“One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”
These famous words were uttered by Neil Armstrong, on 20 July 1969 as the first man ever descended on the surface of the moon. Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin had landed with lunar module Eagle in the Sea of stillness while the third of the astronauts, Michael Collins, continued to circle in a orbit around the moon with the mother ship, the space flight Columbia. The adventure was followed by an estimated 500 million people all over the world. It was then the biggest television audience for a live broadcast ever.
Moon landing in 1969, the space race culminated between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The purpose was military; To demonstrate technology advantage. In retrospect, the Apollo programme has come to be re-evaluated. Nowadays, NASA is highlighting the Earth’s vulnerability as one of the most important, albeit unintended, results of the Apollo program and its predecessor.
The photos of the earth that were taken by the astronauts on the Apollo program, with cameras from the hasselblads in Gothenburg, belong to the most influential photographs of all time. With the Apollo program and Hasselbladskamerorna, mankind had for the first time not only to see the close-ups of the moon, but also to see color images of the Earth as a planet, hovering in the dark inhospitable space.
Since the Apollo program a lot has happened in space technology. Today, space technology is used daily, for example when we watch TV and navigate. Human curiosity and desire for discovery leads to new space missions for investigations of other planets. Perhaps the first man in the coming decade will visit the neighbouring planet Mars.