1969 was the year when Neil Armstrong took his small step on the Moon. But the Moon was not the only planetary body that started to give up its secrets in 1969. Two spacecraft flew closer to Mars than ever before, picturing its cratered surface and one of its polar caps. Two large meteorites fell, one in Mexico, the other in Australia. They were not from the same asteroid, but each carried crucial information about happened as the Sun was born.

Two astronomers in Kazakhstan discovered a comet that was subsequently given their names, Churyumov and Gerasimenko. The comet was the target of the European Space Agency’s incredibly successful Rosetta mission. And finally, a party of Japanese glaciologists found fragments from nine separate meteorites together on a patch of blue ice. Since then, another 50,000 meteorites have been recovered from Antarctica.

Monica Grady was involved in the Rosetta mission and has collected meteorites in Antarctica. She has studied meteorites from the asteroid belt, from the Moon and from Mars. In her talk, she will explain what, 50 years later, we have learnt about the Solar System from the events of 1969.

There will be a Question and Answer session after the talk. Please email your questions to STEM-News@open.ac.uk

If you can't join us in person, please select the online attendance ticket to join us remotely.

http://stadium.open.ac.uk/stadia/preview.php?whichevent=3329&s=1

Or follow us on Facebook, @TheOpenUniversitySTEM where we will also live stream the lecture.

FAQs

Is there an age restriction for the event?

Everyone is welcome to attend the event regardless of age, however, please be aware that all under 18's must be accompanied by an adult and will be the responsibility of that adult throughout the event.

What are my transport/parking options for getting to and from the event?

By Car: The campus postcode is MK7 6AA and there is lots of free parking available on campus, with disabled parking available immediately outside the event venue.

By Bus: Service 11/11a and 12/12a (Z&S Transport), Service 70 (Arriva), Service 15 (Vale Travel) public buses run frequently from the train station through various suburbs of Milton Keynes and to The Open University.

By Train: The campus is 4 miles from Milton Keynes Central railway station, served by the West Coast Mainline between Birmingham and London (Euston). Taxis can always be found outside the railway station. The Open University is five to ten minutes drive from the station.

When you arrive: OU GO is a 3D map guide of the Milton Keynes campus that you can download onto your mobile.