World Space Week is on its way, and to mark it budding astronauts and space engineers at the University of Surrey are set to “take over” Guildford town centre on Saturday, October 7.

The space-themed fun day in Guildford on Saturday, October 7, is for people of all ages with lots of space-related activities and experiments to try. Photo credit: Grant Pritchard, University of Surrey.

The university and its event partners, the Institute of Physics, is offering activities for children and adults at the Tunsgate Quarter shopping centre and on the High Street.

There will be space suits to try on from the UK Space Agency and Winchester Science Centre will host a pop-up planetarium, plus there will be a working model of a mini Mars rover.

Experts from Surrey Space Centre will also be at the Tunsgate Quarter shopping centre.

Surrey Space Centre on the University of Surrey campus.

Laura Cox from the University of Surrey’s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science said: “Come along to see inside a small satellite and have a go at steering it. You can also help spot illegal fishing boats on satellite images, a crime which costs over $15 billion annually.

“At the mobile ground station, visitors can see signals from satellites in real-time and the decoded data they are sending from space. And you can learn about different types of space rocks and handle 3D-printed models of real asteroids, comets, and planetary moons.”

Astrophysicists from the School of Mathematics and Physics will be answering astronomy questions, running a constellation activity, offering an escape room-style activity and more.

Surrey Satellite Technology will being showing models of spacecraft and components of the satellites it makes.

Dr Nicola Baresi, an astrodynamicist who plans efficient routes for spacecraft to travel in space, including to the Moon and to other planets in our solar system, said: “It’s going to be a fun day for people of all ages with lots of space-related activities and experiments to try.

“Space is a hugely exciting sector and is a thriving industry across Surrey and Hampshire.

“There are plenty of opportunities for rewarding careers in this area, yet significant skills shortages, something we help tackle at the University of Surrey with our research activities and educational programmes.

“We’re keen to inspire people and help them realise that they could get a job in the space industry.”