Smart satellites
You can get your favourite actor or pop star to provide the voice for your Sat Nav if you’re travelling somewhere – but how do they know where they’re going? And if you have a smartphone, how can that help to find where you are?
The answer to these questions is a satellite! They orbit the planet, go largely without being noticed and are designed by engineers.
Satellites help us to predict what the weather will be like so we can choose a good day for a picnic. They also help us to continually monitor changes in the Earth’s climate, for example, satellite imaging is used to see if arctic sea ice is increasing or decreasing.
Find out more about careers in space below:
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The ultimate tripThink of the most exotic trip you can...India? Thailand? Maybe South America? What about outer space? Well, Pamela Melroy has been there, and now she's back to tell us all about it.
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On a missionHanna Sykulska-Lawrence can truly claim to be ‘reaching for the stars.’ As well as winning the prestigious IET Young Woman Engineer of Year, she has been on a team that helped send a NASA mission to Mars. She is currently at Imperial College London. Not bad for a 27-year-old at the start of her career, I’d say.