The Hubble European Space Agency Information Centre (HEIC) is a science communication office, established at the Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility (ST-ECF) in Munich, Germany late in 1999. This initiative was taken so as to fulfil the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) outreach and education tasks for the European Space Agency (ESA), as outlined in an agreement between NASA and ESA.
Over the past few years HEIC has become a very distinguished communication office of experts using the newest software and techniques. The European Hubble office has produced large amounts of astronomical material suitable both for educational purposes and wider public consumption. HEIC provides a well-assorted archive that is publicly available on its web page.
The work is centred on the production of news and photo releases that highlight interesting Hubble science results and images. These are often European in origin, and so not only increase the awareness of ESA’s Hubble share (15%), but the contribution of European scientists to the observatory. Furthermore the group produces video releases, innovative educational material, CD-ROMs, brochures, posters, as well as DVDs and museum information kiosks, and much more.
The Hubble Information Centre is headed by the science communication specialist Lars Lindberg Christensen and the lead graphic designer is Martin Kornmesser.
Famous quotes containing the words european, space, agency, information and/or centre:
“When the inhabitants of some sequestered island first descry the “big canoe” of the European rolling through the blue waters towards their shores, they rush down to the beach in crowds, and with open arms stand ready to embrace the strangers. Fatal embrace! They fold to their bosoms the vipers whose sting is destined to poison all their joys; and the instinctive feeling of love within their breasts is soon converted into the bitterest hate.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing. It would take us as long to recall a space of time as it took the original time to elapse, and we should never get ahead with our thinking. All recollected times undergo, accordingly, what M. Ribot calls foreshortening; and this foreshortening is due to the omission of an enormous number of facts which filled them.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“It is possible that the telephone has been responsible for more business inefficiency than any other agency except laudanum.... In the old days when you wanted to get in touch with a man you wrote a note, sprinkled it with sand, and gave it to a man on horseback. It probably was delivered within half an hour, depending on how big a lunch the horse had had. But in these busy days of rush-rush-rush, it is sometimes a week before you can catch your man on the telephone.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“Theories of child development and guidelines for parents are not cast in stone. They are constantly changing and adapting to new information and new pressures. There is no “right” way, just as there are no magic incantations that will always painlessly resolve a child’s problems.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“The great God absolute! The centre and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality!”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)