World Space Week 2003 Report

For the fourth year, Poland celebrated World Space Week. On 4 October 2003 in Warsaw, the Polish Astronautics Society organized a special event for young people participating in the ZNEK project (Application of Science for the Exploration of Space). Three groups of pupils from Gdansk, Gdynia and Torun, awarded for their outstanding activity in the ZNEK project, were invited to Warsaw for a celebration of World Space Week 2003. The excursion included a visit to the Warsaw Planetarium and lecture in Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (www.cbk.waw.pl). The lecture presented by Dr Krzysztof Ziolkowski was devoted to the scientific results of the Galileo mission. The group from Torun visited the new exhibition of the Museum of Polish Army dedicated to the 25 anniversary of the space flight of the first Polish cosmonaut Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski. In the evening, both groups saw the 3D film "Space Station" at the IMAX theatre. The educational program ZNEK (http://znek.astronet.pl), led by Polish Astronautics Society and its leaders Mr Andrzej Kotarski and Mr Marek Sadowski, has a significant role in the popularisation of space exploration among 14 to 19 year-old students.

A very important event, related to the popularization of Space exploration and World Space Week, was the Festival of Science organized under the auspices of the Polish Academy of Science and The Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre in Warsaw. The series of lectures led by prominent Polish scientists under the title "We are Living in the Era of Great Astronomic Discoveries" gathered hundreds of spectators. Eight lectures gave the audience an opportunity to follow the latest discoveries in topics such as: dark matter and energy, history of astronomy, black holes, Hubble Space Telescope, history of galactics and gamma-ray bursts. The final lecture, under the title "All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Universe, But Were Afraid to Ask" was led by top Polish scientists, who work in leading space and astrophysics centers all over the world. Prof. Abramowicz, Dr Bajtlik, Prof. Paczynski, Prof. Lasota and Prof. Juszkiewicz answered questions about hot new scientific theories in astrophysics.

The astronomy seminar during the Festival of Science was accompanied by screenings of films about the exploration of Space, exhibition of meteorites and amateur astronomy equipment and presentation of popular science books about Space. The educational campaign was supported by public television, radio, leading newspapers and weekly magazines.

In addition to the main events organized under the patronage of the Polish Academy of Science, several local activities including lectures, exhibitions and other educational events were held in planetariums, schools and universities all over Poland.

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