The speaker for the October 2014 meeting at The Tea Bar will be Dan Staab.   The subject for October is "The Rosetta Project - Landing a Probe on a Comet!".  You can read more about the Rosetta Project at the BBC web site below:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29380448

The date has been fixed for Europe's daring attempt to land on a comet: Wednesday 12 November.

This is your chance to find out more about this amazing European space project only a couple of weeks before the probe landing takes place!

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
After obtaining a degree in Physics with Planetary Science at the University of Leicester in 2013, Dan is currently pursuing a PhD at the Open University, working on discovering and characterising planets around distant stars.

ABOUT THE TALK ...
Comets are both a magnificent sight in the night sky and an important scientific treasure-trove: they are frozen time capsules from the beginning of our solar system. We unexpectedly discovered thousands of them plunging into the sun, and into other stars, light years away. With the advent of the space age, we have sent robotic explorers flying past these enigmatic icy objects at high speed to gather information and samples. 

Over the past weeks, the Rosetta spacecraft has started to revolutionise our understanding of comets by following one at close range for its journey around the sun. This is the most challenging mission the European Space Agency has ever attempted, and it is about to reach its climax - sending a lander down to the surface in early November. Dan will highlight why comets are subjected to such ambitious investigations, discuss first results from the mission and what we hope to learn from it.

THE VENUE AND FORMAT FOR THE EVENING ...
The Tea Bar will be open from around 6:00pm before the talk which starts at 7:30pm, so you can get yourself a drink and have a chat with other participants. The discussions will aim to finish around 9:00pm, though everyone will be welcome to stay around and have a chat with the speaker afterwards ... and indulge in more of the Tea Bar's delicious cakes.

The format of the evening is usually a talk of 30 to 40 minutes, followed by a short break so the audience can refill their glasses, before questions and discussions about the talk. Entry is free and open to everyone, but we do encourage you to buy a tea, coffee or drink (and cakes) at the bar to show your support for The Tea Bar who sponsor the meeting by providing the venue.

Cafe Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can come to explore and debate the latest ideas in science and technology.

Basingstoke Cafe Scientifique is a free Special Interest Group organised and sponsored by the Active Hampshire Social Club (www.activehampshire.org.uk).

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