We are pleased to report that the i4is has now moved into its own home, the "interstellar space" at the Mill, Charfield, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom. The company took up residence early October after several months of preparation to occupy the space.
The interstellar space features models of spacecraft, starships and space stations, as well as sculptures, art work, educational posters and actual hardware flown in space. It contains a reception area (termed the Bridge) where our team runs our operational administration from. It contains a library, called the "Captain J.P.M.Brooks Library of Exploration" which includes books on spaceflight, astronomy, science fiction, chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics and many other subjects necessary for core research studies by our teams. It also contain a high technology café space, hosted in front of the space history wall. Finally, it contains a grand conference room, currently kitted out to hold around 80 people although it can accommodate more than 100 with seating changes.
This makes the Initiative for Interstellar Studies the first dedicated interstellar organisation in the world to have its own HQ and is a milestone achievement for our team.
For anyone that wants to come and visit the i4is HQ, get in touch with our team at info@i4is.org and we would be happy to arrange a suitable date. It is our hope that over time anyone who has an interest in advancing and promoting the subject of interstellar flight is welcome at our home, be it as a one day stopover, or as a visiting researcher to undertake a particular topic of study. We also intend to run a program of lectures, courses, workshops and even conferences from this facility as well as providing for a nexus point of focus for our global activities.
Some of the incredible models we have on display includes the Discovery I from '2001 A Space Odyssey', The Starship Avalon from the film 'Passengers', the Event Horizon black hole spaceship from the movie of the same name, the International Space Station and a large model of the U.S.S Enterprise from the Star Trek franchise.
Finally, the space history wall contains many amazing photographs from the history of space exploration. At the top is the photographs for the crews of Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107), Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) and Apollo 1 who died in the pursuit of space. At the i4is, we honour our fallen hero's.
