The Sir Arthur Clarke Awards 2005

The Sir Arthur Clarke Awards were held at the prestigious Charterhouse School, on the evening of Saturday 2 April 2005.

The new awards, nicknamed 'The Arthurs', were designed to recognise and reward the best in space research and exploration and were presented at a black-tie dinner at the close of this year's conference of the British Rocketry Oral History Programme (BROHP).

With the judges, the nominees and other guests, the list of attendees read like a "Who's Who" of the UK space community, including:

• David Southwood - Director of Science for the European Space Agency

• Colin Hicks - Director General of the British National Space Centre

• Andrew Simpson - President of the International Space University
• Colin Pillinger - Head of the Planetary and Space Sciences Research Institute and the driving force behind Beagle 2
• John Zarnecki - Professor of Space Science at PSSRI and responsible for the Surface Science Package on the Huygens prob that landed on Titan
• Reginald Turnill - the world's longest serving aerospace journalist
• Space artist David A Hardy
• Writers and broadcasters Heather Couper and Nigel Henbest
• Sir Arthur’s brother, Fred Clarke

Most people will recognise Sir Arthur as one of the foremost science fiction writers, whose works include "Childhood’s End", "Rendezvous With Rama", "The Fountains of Paradise" and "2001: a Space Odyssey". However he is also a writer of science fact and made a major contribution to space science when he came up with the concept of geostationary communications satellites. This work was published sixty years ago in the October 1945 edition of "Wireless World", some 20 years before the first such satellite was launched. Sir Arthur, now 87, resides in Sri Lanka, and is delighted to have the awards named after him.

The award ceremony marked the climax of a selection process from categories covering activities by individuals, teams and organisations in UK Space Science and the UK Space industry. As well as categories for corporate and individual achievement, there were also awards for educators and journalists, and for outreach and inspiration - promoting space and providing encouragement for the next generation.

"And the Winners Are..."

Best Corporate Achievement - EADS Space

Best Individual Achievement - John Zarnecki (Huygens)

Best Student Achievement - Julia Tizard

Best Space Reporting - David Whitehouse (coverage of Beagle 2)

Achievement in Education - The National Space Science Centre

Inspiration Award - George Scoon

Best Presentation (TV & Radio) - Chris Riley: "Space Odyssey - Journey to the Planets"

Best Presentation (Written) - David A Hardy & Patrick Moore: "Futures - 50 Years in Space"

Outreach Award for the Public Promotion of Space - Colin Pillinger

Special Award, presented by Fred Clarke on behalf of Sir Arthur to a recipient of his choice - The British Interplanetary Society

Additional Award, presented by the organisers to Sir Arthur Clarke, commemorating the 60th anniversary of his paper on global communication by satellite in the October 1945 edition of "Wireless World"

About BROHP

The British Rocketry Oral History Programme was established with the aim of recording the experiences of those who worked on the British rocketry porgrammes of the 50s and 60s, gathering together important and historic information on the subject that might otherwise have been lost with the passage of time. The organisation is run by a mixture of people: some are academics, researching the history of British postwar technology. Others are people who were involved in the work at the time, in Whitehall, in Government establishments, and in the firms building the various projects.

For the last 6 years, BROHP has held an annual conference, featuring up to 40 speakers presenting a wide range of papers on the UK rocketry, missile and related programmes. This year's conference ran from 31 March to 2 April and attracted around 300 participants from around the world.

The Judges

• Rob Coppinger Technical reporter for Flight International
• Rex Hall President of the British Interplanetary Society
• Ian Halliday Chief Executivel, particle Physics & Astronomy Research Council
• Adam Hart-Davis Freelance presenter on TV & radio, writer and photographer
• Colin Hicks Director General, British National Space Centre
• Bo Maxwell President of the Mars Society UK
• Pat Norris Business Development Manager for LogicaCMG
• Chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society Space Group
• Ian Ridpath Writer and broadcaster on astronomy
• Alistair Scott Director of Communications, EADS Space
• Martin Shelley Space Education Consultant
• David Southwood Director of Space Science for the European Space Agency
• J erry Stone Presenter of lectures and exhibitions on space exploration
• Chris Welch Chairman of the Space Education Council
• Sharon Williams Chair of UK Students for the Exploration & Development of Space
• Lesley Wright Co-organiser of the BROHP conference (Chair of Judging Panel)