Thursday 26 April 2012 At the age of 14 Sue Nelson wanted to be an astronaut and wrote a letter of enquiry to NASA. They wrote back, enclosing a technical manual for the space shuttle and advising her to keep studying her favourite subject, Physics. In the week that marks 50 years since the UK space programme lifted off, Sue told an audience at the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) that, despite not making it as an astronaut, she feels she does the next best thing. As a science writer and broadcaster, Sue can indulge her obsession with space to produce the monthly Space Boffins podcast, as well as delving into the rich variety of work undertaken by scientists from all walks of life. Sue delivered her talk Blondes, rockets and a life scientific on the day before the 50th anniversary of the launch of the UK’s first satellite Ariel-1. She recalled her meetings with scientists who had been instrumental in developing man’s knowledge of space, from the only surviving member of the early ‘Harvard computers’ who worked in US astronomical observatories, to famous astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Gene Cernan and Britain’s own Tim Peake. Sue has also encountered many ‘citizen scientists’, who do it not for their day job but because they love it, studying anything from extrasolar planets to garden birds. As she said, “All the scientists I’ve met love their jobs, and I wish I’d been clever enough to be one! I am lucky to do the next best thing, having the chance to research many fascinating scientific topics. There is no such thing as an ordinary day, and you’ll see that science covers anything you want it to.” The talk was the second of GSAL’s Mark Bailey lectures, a series of public lectures in honour of GSAL’s former head teacher who became High Master at St Paul’s School, London in 2011. Sue is pictured with pupils Amelia Dawson-Kavanagh and Charlie Marcus. General Senior School News
