Under the patronage of the President of Beirut Arab University, Prof. Amr El Adawi, the Faculty of Science and BAU Astronomy Club hosted a webinar entitled “Beyond the Horizon”. The webinar tackled recent space missions and the physics behind them, and it was held during the World Space Week (4-10 October), which is an annual week celebrating space events across the Globe.
Starting the webinar, Miss Alaa Abdallah, head of BAU Astronomy Club, presented the mission of the club to spread scientific knowledge, especially related to astronomy through three pillars: education, research, and community service. She announced the readiness of BAU Astronomy Club to host all university and school students through organized events, including informative talks and astronomical observations varying between lunar, planetary, and deep sky observations.
After the introduction, three presentations were delivered by the guest speakers. Doctor Mohammad Abass, Research Associate at New York University in Abu Dhabi, gave insights into the newly launched JAMES WEBB Telescope, explaining its basic mechanisms and how it works. Following up, Professor Ahmad Chaalan, Professor of Physics at Lebanese University and President of Lebanese Outreach Group for Astronomy, spoke about spaceports and their functionality. Lastly, Engineer Diana Alsindy, Propulsion Engineer at Blue Origin involved in many space missions including NASA’s CubeQuest Challenge, discussed how to land a STEM career in the space industry, and the necessary technical and personal skills needed.
The webinar targeted school and university students as well as astronomy clubs, and space amateurs from across the MENA region. More than 95 participants attended the webinar and showed their enthusiasm by interacting through the Q&A session with the guest speakers. Many participants from schools and universities expressed their interest in joining the BAU Astronomy Club.
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