BAE systems, RAF and Royal Navy

On 6th of September 2023, we got a presentation from three representatives of the BAE Systems (Matt, Fran, Ellie). It started off with a brief introduction on Submarines, Engineering and Spacecraft. We learned about the different challenges involved in surviving in the two extremes of human exploration (from the depths of the oceans to outer space) together with the engineering solutions that have been developed to overcome these challenges.

At the start they asked for 2 volunteers - Adwita and Elizabeth volunteered. Adwita had to scream (with a megaphone) at Elizabeth's instructions to help her complete a picture puzzle. The purpose of this was to demonstrate the importance of clear, precise communications, particularly when there is a job to be done.

After that, they gave a short presentation on how they are going to send a submarine into Space! They gave a whole demonstration on communication in space, and they had asked for more volunteers (Teme and Olivia) Teme had to wear an astronaut’s helmet and gloves. Olivia had to shout (without a megaphone) about how to make a satellite dish. This helped us learn how difficult it can be to complete the simplest of tasks when having to wear equipment developed to protect us from the dangerous environments of underwater or deep space.

Then they filled an inflatable Sun with air. It was designed to show the difference in scale of our Sun and Earth. The inflated Sun was humongous, and on this scale the Earth would have been the size of a small glass marble!