Sir Arthur Clarke Award
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
award
Award
An award is something given to a person or a group of people to recognize excellence in a certain field; a certificate of excellence. Awards are often signifiedby trophies, titles, certificates, commemorative plaques, medals, badges, pins, or ribbons...
given in recognition of notable contributions to space
Outer space
Outer space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, including the Earth. It is not completely empty, but consists of a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles: predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, and neutrinos....
exploration, particularly British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
achievements. It is owned by the Space Education Trust and is independent of and separate from awards given by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. Founded in 2005, the awards are an annual event. They take place at the UK Space Conference
UK Space Conference
The UK Space Conference is an annual conference devoted to space held in the United Kingdom. The conference hosts the Sir Arthur Clarke Award prizegiving dinner....
. Formerly the British Rocketry Oral History Programme (BROHP) until it was renamed in 2008, this event was held annually at Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
from 1998 to 2010. In 2011 it was held at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
. Nominations for the awards are made by members of the public, with shortlists drawn up by a panel of judges, who also choose the winner. The award was established with the permission of Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
, who chose a special award independently of the public nominations prior to his death on 18 March 2008.
The award has the same proportions (1:4:9) as the monolith featured in Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
, and is made of glass. It features the diagram Clarke drew in 1945 in order to demonstrate how satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s can provide global communications around the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
from geostationary orbit
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
, also called the Clarke Orbit
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
. It was co-designed by Jerry Stone and Howard Berry.
Not all categories are awarded each year; 2008 was the first year in which nominations were shortlisted in the category of Best Film Presentation. An additional award was given in 2007 and 2008 that was named after and presented by George Abbey
George Abbey
George William Samuel Abbey is a former director of the Johnson Space Center and Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University.-Biography:Born in Seattle, Washington, Abbey attended Lincoln High School there...
, the former director of the Johnson Space Center. It was awarded to those "whose space achievement made us laugh the most". The award ceremony is similar to the Oscars in that multiple awards are given in various categories at the same event, which is different from other awards given in the field. As a result the awards have been referred to as the Arthurs. The awards are held in great esteem by the international Space community:
2011
The 2011 award took place at the UK Space Conference at the University of Warwick in July 2011.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Achievement in Space Education and Outrearch | Unlimited Theatre for 'Mission to Mars' |
| Achievement in Space Research | University of Strathclyde University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university... Advanced Space Concepts Lab |
| Achievement in Space Commerce | Clyde Space |
| Achievement in Space Media | Clive Horwood |
| Space Student Achievement | Chris Brunskill |
| International Space Achievement | David Thompson, Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems... |
| Exceptional Space Achievement | Professor David Southwood |
2010
The award dinner was held on 27 March 2010 at the UK Space Conference at Charterhouse.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| International Award | International Space University International Space University The International Space University is a private university founded in 1987. The University currently offers three degree granting programs — Master of Science in Space Management, Master of Science in Space Studies and Executive MBA — in addition to a non-degree-granting Space Studies Program.The... |
| Inspiration Award | Anu Ojha |
| Team of the year | Qinetiq QinetiQ Qinetiq is a British global defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency , when it was split up in June 2001... |
| Individual Achievement | unreported |
| Best Film/TV/Radio Presentation | unreported |
| Best Space Reporting | Jonathan Amos, BBC News Online |
| Education | unreported |
| Entrepreneur | unreported |
| Outreach | unreported |
| Student | Áron Kidsi |
2009
The 2009 Awards dinner was held on 4 April 2009 at the UK Space conference.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Achievement in Education | Chris Welch, Kingston University |
| Best Corporate/Team Achievement | Automated Transfer Vehicle Automated Transfer Vehicle The Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency . ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments... Team, John Ellwood: ATV project manager |
| Best Individual Achievement | Richard Garriott Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa... |
| Best Lifetime Achievement | Professor Fred Taylor |
| Best Space Reporting | BBC News BBC News BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online... Science Team, special citation for Paul Rincon Paul Rincon Paul Rincon is a British journalist specialising in science and technology. He currently works as a science journalist for BBC News, where he has reported across online, radio and television platforms... |
| Best Student Achievement | Dr David Boyce |
| Best TV/Radio Presentation | BBC Four BBC Four BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable.... 's The Satellite Story |
| Best Written Presentation | “Red Moon Rising” by Matthew Brzezinski, only nominee |
| Inspiration Award | Lord Drayson Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson PC is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ian Pearson. In June 2009 he was additionally appointed as Minister of State for... |
| Outreach award for the Public Promotion of Space | Alastair Scott |
| Space Entrepreneur | unreported |
2008
The 2008 Awards dinner was held on 29 March 2008 at Charterhouse. Special guests were George AbbeyGeorge Abbey
George William Samuel Abbey is a former director of the Johnson Space Center and Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University.-Biography:Born in Seattle, Washington, Abbey attended Lincoln High School there...
and Joe Engle.
| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Best Corporate/Team Achievement | Mars Express Mars Express Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was... Team; Project Manager Rudi Schmidt |
| Best Individual Achievement | Ian Taylor MP |
| Best Student Achievement | Alison Gibbings |
| Best Space Reporting | "Spaceflight" magazine British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:... ; Editor Clive Simpson |
| Achievement in Education | Faulkes Telescope Project Faulkes Telescope Project The Faulkes Telescope Project is supported by the Dill Faulkes Educational Trust. It provides access to 1,500 hours of observing time on two 2-metre class telescopes located in Hawaii and Australia... ; director Paul Roche |
| Inspiration Award | Piers Sellers Piers Sellers Piers John Sellers OBE is a British-born Anglo-American meteorologist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.... |
| Best Presentation, Film | In the Shadow of the Moon In the Shadow of the Moon In the Shadow of the Moon is a 2006 British documentary film about the United States' manned missions to the Moon. It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Audience Award. In March 2008, it was the first film to win the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Best Film... ; Director David Sington David Sington David Sington is a British-born producer, screenwriter, director, author and journalist. He studied natural science at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1981. In 1983, had the opportunity to go to film school but instead, he started his career at the BBC World Service as a journalist. In... & Christopher Riley Christopher Riley Christopher Riley is a British writer, broadcaster and film maker specialising in the history of science. He has a PhD from Imperial College, University of London where he pioneered the use of digital elevation models in the study of mountain range geomorphology and evolution... |
| Best Presentation, TV & Radio | Martin Redfern and Heather Couper Heather Couper Heather Anita Couper CBE CPhys is a British astronomer who popularized astronomy in the 1980s and 1990s on British television. She is a former president of the British Astronomical Association from 1984 to 1986.-Early life:... : "Britain's Space Race" |
| Best Presentation, Written | David A. Baker: Jane's Spaceflight Directory |
| Outreach Award for the Public Promotion of Space | Margaret Aderin-Pocock |
| Lifetime Achievement | Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a spin-off company of the University of Surrey, now fully owned by EADS Astrium, that builds and operates small satellites. Its satellites began as amateur radio satellites known by the UoSAT name or by an OSCAR designation... |
| George Abbey George Abbey George William Samuel Abbey is a former director of the Johnson Space Center and Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University.-Biography:Born in Seattle, Washington, Abbey attended Lincoln High School there... Award |
A glass version of the award presented to two members of the Rocket Men team in replacement for the paper versions given the previous year (see 2007 Awards below/picture (right)). |
2007
The 2007 Awards dinner was held on 14 April 2007 at the BROHP conference at Charterhouse.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Best Corporate/Team Achievement | The Mars Exploration Rover Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars... s Team |
| Best Individual Achievement | Steve Squyres Steve Squyres Steven W. Squyres is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. His research area is in planetary sciences, with a focus on large solid bodies in the solar system such as the terrestrial planets and the moons of the Jovian planets. Squyres is principal... |
| Best Space Reporting | Robin Scagell |
| Achievement in Education | The International Space School Educational Trust |
| Inspiration Award | Sir Patrick Moore |
| Best Presentation, TV & Radio | The Sky At Night The Sky at Night The Sky at Night is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show has had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first airing on 24 April 1957, making it the longest-running programme with the same presenter in television history.The... |
| Best Presentation, Written | Charles S. Cockell Charles S. Cockell Charles S. Cockell is Professor of Geomicrobiology with the Open University. Prior to this, he was a microbiologist with the British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK... : Space on Earth |
| Outreach Award for the Public Promotion of Space | Lord Sainsbury David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, FRS , is a British businessman and politician. From 1992 to 1997, he served as the Chairman of Sainsbury's . He was made a life peer in 1997, and currently sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Labour Party... |
| Lifetime Achievement | Eric "Winkle" Brown |
| Special Award | Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th... |
| George Abbey George Abbey George William Samuel Abbey is a former director of the Johnson Space Center and Fellow in Space Policy at the Baker Institute of Rice University.-Biography:Born in Seattle, Washington, Abbey attended Lincoln High School there... award |
The Rocket Men Team that made a Space Shuttle Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons... out of a Reliant Robin Reliant Robin thumb|right|250px|1975 Greek advertisement for Mebea Robin The Reliant Robin is a small three wheeled car formerly manufactured by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England... for the BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... TV series Top Gear Top Gear (current format) Top Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style... |
Among the other nominees were Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...
, and the British-born astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Piers Sellers
Piers Sellers
Piers John Sellers OBE is a British-born Anglo-American meteorologist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions....
.
2006
The 2006 Awards dinner was held on 8 April 2006 at the BROHP conference at Charterhouse.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Best Corporate/Team Achievement | The UK Huygens Huygens probe The Huygens probe was an atmospheric entry probe carried to Saturn's moon Titan as part of the Cassini–Huygens mission. The probe was supplied by the European Space Agency and named after the Dutch 17th century astronomer Christiaan Huygens.... Industry Team |
| Best Individual Achievement | David Parker David Parker David Parker may refer to:* David Parker , current manager of Birmingham City Ladies* David C. Parker, theology professor and textual critic* David Parker , North Carolina politician and attorney... |
| Best Student Achievement | Sabrina Pottinger |
| Achievement in Education | Alex Blackwood |
| Inspiration Award | Michael Foale Michael Foale Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD is a British-American astrophysicist with dual citizenship and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six space shuttle missions and extended stays on both Mir and the International Space Station... |
| Best Presentation, TV & Radio | Space Race Space Race (TV series) Space Race is a BBC docudrama series first shown in Britain on BBC2 between September and October 2005, chronicling the major events and characters in the American/Soviet space race up to the first landing of a man on the moon. It focuses on Sergei Korolev, the Soviet chief rocket designer, and... |
| Best Presentation, Written | Alan Lawrie: Saturn |
| Outreach Award for the Public Promotion of Space | The PPARC Communication Team |
| Lifetime Achievement | Reginald Turnill Reg Turnill Reginald Turnill was the BBC's aviation correspondent for over forty years throughout the heyday of space exploration and British aviation prowess. He saw at first hand the development of modern aviation and NASA's space missions... |
Among the other nominees were Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, and the Robson Green
Robson Green
Robson Green is an English actor, singer–songwriter and presenter.-Biography:Robson Golightly Green was born in Hexham, Northumberland, and baptised in Bethel Chapel, , and named in Northeast tradition as first son after family surnames: Robson is his grandmother's maiden surname, while Golightly...
drama television series Rocket Man.
2005
Presented at the inaugural award dinner at Charterhouse, Saturday 2 April 2005.| Category | Recipient |
|---|---|
| Best Corporate Achievement | EADS Space |
| Best Individual Achievement | John Zarnecki John Zarnecki John C. Zarnecki is an English Sir Arthur Clarke Award winning professor and researcher in space science. Currently working at the Open University since 2000, he was previously a professor and researcher at the University of Kent... |
| Best Student Achievement | Julia Tizard |
| Best Space Reporting | David Whitehouse |
| Achievement in Education | National Space Centre National Space Centre The National Space Centre is one of the United Kingdom's leading visitor attractions that is devoted to space science and astronomy. It is located in the city of Leicester, England, next to the River Soar on the A6.-History:... |
| Inspiration Award | George Scoon |
| Best Presentation, TV & Radio | Christopher Riley Christopher Riley Christopher Riley is a British writer, broadcaster and film maker specialising in the history of science. He has a PhD from Imperial College, University of London where he pioneered the use of digital elevation models in the study of mountain range geomorphology and evolution... , producer: Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets is a mockumentary about a manned voyage through the solar system. Space Odyssey premiered in 2004 and was made by the BBC... |
| Best Presentation, Written | David A. Hardy David A. Hardy David A. Hardy , is the longest-established living space artist, having illustrated his first book in 1954.... and Patrick Moore Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of... : Futures—50 Years in Space |
| Outreach Award for the Public Promotion of Space | Colin Pillinger Colin Pillinger Colin Trevor Pillinger, CBE, is a planetary scientist at the Open University in the UK. He was the principal investigator for the British Beagle 2 Mars lander project, and has done much work studying a group of Martian meteorites.In May 2005 Pillinger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.-Early... |
| Special Award | British Interplanetary Society British Interplanetary Society The British Interplanetary Society founded in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator, is the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world whose aim is exclusively to support and promote astronautics and space exploration.-Structure:... |
Sir Arthur was also presented with a special award commemorating the 60th anniversary of his paper on global communication by satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
in the October 1945 edition of Wireless World
Wireless World
Wireless World was the pre-eminent British magazine for radio and electronics enthusiasts. It was one of the very few "informal" journals which were tolerated as a professional expense.- History :...
. This award was accepted on behalf of Sir Arthur by his brother Fred.
External links
- British Rocketry Oral History Programme
- Official site
- UK Space Conference, host event for the awards, for 2011.
- UK Space Conference, host event for the awards, years up to and including 2010.
- Photographs from the 2006 Arthurs and BROHP conference
- 2005 Awards review