Heads turned and eyes widened as the largest rocket ever to have flown from mainland Britain made its way along the Hertfordshire roads towards Bishop's Stortford early on Wednesday 5th July. The NOVA/STARCHASER 4, a thirty-six foot space craft, spent the day at the College as the focal point of an educational outreach programme designed to ignite enthusiasm for science, technology and engineering. Over 200 College pupils at key stages of their education enjoyed a fascinating lecture about rockets, astronauts and space before building and launching their own solid fuel rocket. 

“A lot of the talk was about how you survive living in space for six months or more which was really interesting,” commented sixteen-year old Hollie Pimblett from Henham. “When it came to the rocket building session, I was really surprised. 

The rockets didn’t look very much, just a cardboard tube really. I was amazed at how far they went. Some flew right across the campus, over the Memorial Hall, across the road and into the garden of one of the boarding houses. It was so exciting!”  “Even the heavy downpours in the afternoon couldn’t dampen everyone’s enthusiasm,” added Head of Physics, Adrian Baker. “Watching rocket after rocket disappearing into the rain clouds was an incredible sight. It was a brilliant and very memorable day.”

The special event was just one of several initiatives at the College to give the future generation of innovators an appetite for science. A second launch took place on the same day when a brand new interactive resource centre was opened by Mr Anthony Richards from the Science Museum. Primary school heads and teachers together with representatives from the local scientific community including global healthcare firm, Glaxo Smithkline, were able to get first-hand experience of the thirty-five plus interactive displays designed to intrigue and engage pupils working towards Key Stage 2 level. Available, free of charge, to all primary schools in the area, visits can be booked with Yvonne Sanger on 01279 838594 or scienceaction@bsc.biblio.net once the new term starts in September.