Special guest lined up for museum

Saturday 9th May 2009, 10:40AM BST.

Shropshire’s RAF Museum at Cosford is hosting its “Fantastic People, Wonderful World” event on Monday with a special guest who was once afraid of ET.

Sotira Trifourki, who is the President of the Association of Astronomy Education, will be at the museum’s Hangar One from 10am to 4pm.

Organisers said the event would link to International Astronomy Year 2009 through activities to promote interest in astronomy and related activities. The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture.

Coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first glimpses through a telescope and the birth of modern astronomy, it gives people all over the world the chance to get involved.

Activities will be supported by ThinkTank, a National Science Museum, and other astro-activities and other activities sponsored by the Institute of Physics.

A spokeswoman for the museum said: “When Sotira, aged six and a half, saw the film ET she was completely terrified. But as luck would have it, that inspired her to uncover the mysteries of the universe.

“She supports life-long learning in astronomy and space education for students and tutors.”

View more: Raf Cosford news.