Former NASA astronaut Daniel Tani will lead a Space Week road trip, speaking at events in Cork, Kerry and Limerick.
The annual Space Week Ireland is kicking off this Saturday (4 October) with more than two dozen events and workshops held under this year’s theme – ‘Living in Space’.
Coordinated by Munster Technological University (MTU) Blackrock Castle Observatory (BCO), Space Week 2025 is running until 10 October, and is open to students, families, general members of the public and members of the scientific community to come explore life in space.
Many of the events are free, while others are ticketed locally. Early registrations will result in automatic entry into a draw for Space Week prizes.
Events this year range from the annual NASA Space Apps Challenge – a problem-solving contest – to a radio experiment day where attendees will attempt to tune into the International Space Station, as well as events specific for young children, such as a mini cadet training session, a space workshop and a moon habitat building workshop for first-year and transition-year students.
Space Week 2023 at Cork School of Music. Image: Clare Keogh
Other events include NASA’s Space Apps ‘HackAthlone’ – in Athlone, today (3 October), where participants will spend 48 hours at the Technological University of the Shannon to problem-solve (sleeping bags are recommended).
Meanwhile, a rocket-making workshop at Dublin Zoo will explore space travel, conservation and how observing Earth can help save wild habitats.
The annual Space Week shines a light on Ireland’s rich and underrepresented legacy in astronomy and astrophysics.
Some of the country’s space-related achievements include Dublin mathematician William Rowan Hamilton’s pioneering quaternions which helped solve spacecraft rotation challenges – long before the Apollo era.
Ernest Walton of Dungarvan became the first to split the atom, providing a landmark experimental confirmation of E= mc², while Annie Maunder overcame barriers to reveal the dynamics of sunspots and capture record-breaking coronal streamers, just to name a few.
Living in space
This year’s Space Week is headlined by former NASA astronaut Daniel Tani, who will lead a Space Week road trip, speaking at events in Cork, Kerry and Limerick alongside the head of BCO Dr Niall Smith.
The road show will kick off the Space Week on 4 October and run until 7 October.
Tani will begin the first leg of his tour at the Cork School of Music on Saturday, talking to the audience about his first-hand experience living in space. Attendees will also hear from the co-founder of Space Medicine Ireland Dr Lisa McNamee about the hazards of space living and explore the impact of high-energy particles – such as the sun – on human health with MTU’s Dr Josh Reynolds.
Former NASA astronaut Steve Swanson talking to event attendees at Space Week 2024. Image: Clare Keogh
On Monday (6 October), the road trip will visit the Tralee Library in Co Kerry for a primary school session where Tani will share his experience from living onboard the International Space Station and Smith will talk about the future prospects of living in space.
On the same day, the show moves on to the University of Limerick for a public event hosted with the University’s Rocketry Society.
Finally, on 7 October, the Space Week road trip will reach Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College with primary school sessions followed by a general public talk on the topic of living in space.
“Living and working in space is one of the most extraordinary experiences a human being can have,” said Tani. “You see Earth from orbit and realise how fragile and beautiful it really is.
“Being involved with the Space Week Ireland road trip gives me the chance to share that perspective – not just the adventure of floating in zero gravity, but the ingenuity, teamwork and resilience it takes to thrive in such an extreme environment. I hope it inspires students here in Ireland to see themselves as part of humanity’s journey to the stars.”
In addition to attending the Space Week Ireland road trip at in-person events, attendees can tune in virtually from BCO’s YouTube channel.
“The challenge of living in space is moving from short-term habitability of a small number of people in space stations to longer term colonisation of villages of people on the moon and ultimately Mars and perhaps beyond,” said Dr Smith.
“There are enormous challenges in meeting this vision to become a multi-planet species, but equally there are enormous opportunities. Rarely has human living in space been more exciting.”
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
Daniel Tani. Image: Marifer Veloz, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
