I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend the 2006 Space Studies Program (SSP) at the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France. It was a nine week program and there were 104 participants representing 27 different countries.
I attended a total of 60 lectures on various topics including: Life Sciences, Policy & Law, Business and Management; Physical Sciences, Satellite Applications; Space & Society, Space Mission Analysis & Design and System Engineering. In addition to the lectures, there were workshops, panels, theme days, department projects and team projects.
I was part of the Business and Management Department. Our department assignment was to respond to a request for proposal for a meteorological microsatellite. Our department trip was to EADS Astrium in Fridrichstafen, Germany.
I attended workshops on Microsatellites, Orbital Mechanics, and International Diplomatic Negotiations to name a few. One of the workshops was with the head of the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts which was very interesting.
There were weekly panels including panels on the satellite industry, living in space, going to Mars, space tourism and there was an astronaut panel with six astronauts from different countries including the first Chinese Taikonaut.
In the second half of the summer, after the exam, we focused on our team projects. There were three team projects to choose from. There was one on micro/nanotechnology, one on artificial environments and I chose the Earth observation team project. The Earth Observation (EO) team project focused on EO system solutions for small countries and regions. For each team project, we were required to complete a letter of intent, a draft report, three presentations, a final report and an executive summary.
Attending ISU SSP06 was an unforgettable experience. I learned about the latest space technologies and applications and I was very impressed by the caliber of people I met from around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment