British Science Week: What Are Your Plans?

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British Science Week starts this Friday, 6 March, and finishes on Sunday, 15 March 2026. The annual event celebrates science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), and is the perfect opportunity to share amateur radio with new audiences. A number of clubs are hosting events that are open to the public, ranging from a practical skills night with Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society through to the Lincolnshire Portable Radio Group, which is delivering a youth event with the International Bomber Command Centre.

Several groups and organisations are looking to arrange skeds during the week. These include Crowthorne and Wokingham Without Men’s Shed with Bracknell Amateur Radio Club, and also South Derbyshire and Ashby Woulds Amateur Radio Group. Get involved with British Science Week by attending an event, or by arranging a sked with one of these groups. Find out more by going to rsgb.org/bsw and selecting ‘Events happening near you’ from the right-hand menu.

If you haven’t planned anything yet, you can still get involved by doing the RSGB ‘Riding the wave’ activity with your friends and family. Find this worksheet, along with numerous other ideas and resources by going to the main RSGB British Science Week web page at rsgb.org/bsw

Astro Pi Mission Zero Challenge Offers Youth Chance to Run Code Aboard ISS

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Astro Pi Mission Zero Challenge Offers Youth Chance to Run Code Aboard ISS

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and amateur radio operator Sophie Adenot, KJ5LTN, is now aboard the International Space Station following her launch on the SpaceX Crew-12 mission on 13th February 2026 and docking on 14th February 2026. With about one month remaining before submissions close for the Astro Pi Mission Zero coding challenge on 23rd March 2026, her mission highlights ongoing opportunities for young people to run their own code aboard the space station.

Astro Pi Mission Zero, organised by ESA in partnership with the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO), gives young people the chance to have their code run in space. Participants write a short Python program that reads data from the Astro Pi colour and luminosity sensor aboard the ISS and uses it to set the background colour of a personalised image displayed for astronauts as they go about their daily tasks inside the Columbus laboratory module.

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Victory in Scotland for Amateur's Tower Installation

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Victory was never sweeter for a ham in Scotland who has successfully appealed the local planners' rejection of his tower plans.

The foundations dug and the concrete base with anchor bolts installed, the greatest obstacle facing John Grieve, GM3RTI’s tower project, has been the Scottish winter weather, so John needs to proceed slowly with pulleys, wire ropes and other work; but it was only a few months ago that he could not proceed at all.

Despite supporting statements from neighbours and the Radio Society of Great Britain, the local Perth and Kinross Council rejected John’s planning application for the tilt-over, telescoping structure in the garden behind his home in the village of Inchture. It was to have had an operating height of 15 metres, or 50 feet. John had little opportunity to communicate directly with the Council beforehand. The rejection stated that the project would “have a detrimental impact on the character and environmental quality of the application property and the surrounding area.”

John, who is also an RSGB Region 2 representative, contacted the RSGB Planning Advisory Committee for an appeal in October. In mid-December 2025, he received a 10-year approval. John also gained enthusiastic support on social media: an update on the RSGB’s Facebook page reached more than 35,000 supporters in just a few days, according to society spokeswoman Heather Parsons M7OWS.