The UK Space Agency and its partners have developed an exciting programme of activities for schools, education groups and individuals to engage children in the Principia mission, and inspire them to become future astronauts.

The BSA is proud to announce that several of the Principia resources are associated with our CREST Awards scheme. The Great British Space Dinner and Astro Science Challenge are associated with CREST, and Rocket Science is associated with CREST Star.

The first British ESA astronaut, Tim Peake, will begin his journey to the International Space Station on Tuesday 15 December. The mission, ‘Principia’, will last six months and Tim will use the unique environment of space to run experiments and try out new technologies for future human exploration missions.

We would like to invite students, teachers and families to take part in these fun, engaging activities and earn a CREST Award.

The Great British Space Dinner, developed by the British Nutrition Foundation and supported by Heston Blumenthal, challenges students to design a menu suitable for astronauts to eat in space. The activities gets students thinking about and understanding the nutrition and underlying science of healthy eating as well learning about the impact that space flight has on the human body.

The Great British Space dinner is supported by fun, informative and downloadable education resources with videos from Heston Blumenthal.

Rocket Science is a collaboration between the UK Space Agency and the Royal Horticultural Society. It’s an innovative educational project that will give half a million UK children the chance to become space biologists, comparing the growth of seeds that have been into space, with those that have stayed on our planet.

The Astro Science Challenge, associated with CREST Star, is a competition developed by the Unlimited space Agency, whereby participants take part in a number of acitivities developed by the partners, including the BSA, European Space Agency, Met Office, Science Museum, Royal Observatory Greenwich, UK Space Agency and Young Rewired State_.

Get involved, take part in a CREST Award, and be part of the mission.

Find out more about our CREST Awards, CREST Star and the Principia mission