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ISU SSP Ends Friday August 28th 2010

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:06:00 GMT

Welcome to the Last Blog of the Summer at ISU SSP in France!

ISU SSP finally came to a close Friday the 28th August 2010. The last month of this course has been at a frenetic pace, (trying to explain the gap in blogs!) Summer is coming to an end in France too. The lavender in front of the ISU building started dying two weeks ago and nights require a jacket and scarf.

My graduation yesterday along with my 120 fellow ISU-Nauts as they are sometimes called by the staff was an amazing and beautiful experience. One by one, we were called up and our classmates clapped and cheered us.

I am standing down the front with Angie Buckley on my left and Michael Simpson, on my right.

Each one of us was very proud to stand infront of our colleagues. There was an incredible reception in Pioneers Hall and I felt a tinge of sadness as I walked off campus as a graduate of the International Space Universtiy Space Studies Program.  Sad because I know I can never have this unique experience again, but happy because of the new connections I have made.  Tomorrow we are each going to go our separate ways linked by the experience of ISU SSP.

I am exited at the prospect of returning to my 'real' life, back in Australia with my friends and family and seeing what kind of impact the ISU SSP experience will have on me.  I want to thank every person who helped me to participate in this experience, without the support of my beautiful children and husband firstly, this just would not be possible.  My friends and family who have assisted at home over this 9 weeks have been a godsend, my Australian Sponsors, Andromeda Industries, UNE Law School, APESMA Connect Scholarship and the ISU SSP Funding Committee.

Last but not least, the ISU SSP Staff, TA's, Department and Team project Chairs and Lecturers and the amazing SSP Class of 2010.

Best Regards Kim Ellis ISU SSP Graduate 2010

PS Watch this space- back on ABC Statewide with Helen Claire on my return in September!

Week 5 Tuesday 27th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:54:00 GMT

Tuesday 27th July DLR German Aerospace Centre

The German Aerospace centre is located in Stuttgart in Germany and consists of five research institutes.
Web link http://www.dlr.de/en/
The morning took us into the research laboratories of the Institute of Structures and Design, Institute of Vehicle concepts, Institute of Technical Physics, Institute of Thermal dynamics and Institute of Combustion technology.

                              Vulcain engine in the firing test.

This picture is from the website http://www.dlr.de/ra/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-4035/6382_read-9158/

The afternoon after a chaotic lunch at the university of Stuttgart was spent touring the DLR research facilities both in Stuttgart and just outside the city at the Institute of Space Propulsion which houses a number of rocket test stands. During our introductory presentation, we were lucky enough to experience the sound and feel of a rocket engine test. After the presentation we visited the test stands located accross the 45 hectare site which was founded in 1959. This site holds the Arianne 5 rocket test stand for the main stage Vulcain engines (pictured above)
Accross the site, test stands P8 through to P1 were visited by groups of about 20 students.

Test stand image from www.dlr.de/ra/en
After a very interesting day of visits, we all collapsed onto the bus and slept for the 3 hour journey back to Strasbourg and back to our student residence, the FEC. We were all so tired, there was a break from the usual custom here of taking embarrasing photos of sleeping people!

Week 5 Monday 26th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:03:00 GMT

Monday 26th July Start of Week 5 - A real milestone in the program

Exam!!!!!!!! This means the 60 core lectures are finished and we are moving onto the next phase of the program which will be a focus on departmental activites and the team project. The best part of the core lectures was the opportunity to catch up with all of the students in one place before we head off to our smaller groups of departments and Team Projects.

Right after the exam we piled onto the buses after some really juvenile photograph posing in our bargain red specs and headed off to Stuttgart in Germany.

Let's turn up the red and really bring out the glasses!

About a 2 hour trip to Stuttgart where all had a lovely dinner provided by DLR, we were treated to fantastic rooms with amazing showers and really comfy big beds. After the exam preparation it was a great change of pace to get out of France and over to Germany. Tomorrow is the visit to the German Space Agency, DLR.

Saturday & Sunday 24th and 25th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 09:30:00 GMT

Exam Preparation
& Sleep!
Enough said, will blog again on Monday-after the exam.

Week 4 Friday 23rd July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:01:00 GMT

OMG its Friday again! End of week 4

Yes I am aware that Friday comes around every week, however I am always surprised how quickly this happens, I think that time is speeding up!

I am sitting through the last lecture of the 60 lectures on the origins of the universe and trying madly to update the blog. I seem to be a week behind most of the time, so in the interests of being current, I am posting today and coming back to update later, so I don't become further behind.

Today is special, only lectures thismorrning and then we have the afternoon off with no Departmental Activity or Team Project work. My goal for thisafternoon is to post some items and find some casual clothes. We have the third culture night tonight which is always so much fun. There is an exam on Monday, so I will have to devote some time to study over the weekend , but I have a plan.
Spend the mornings socialising and sightseeing and the afternoon studying and then more sightseeing and socialising in the evening! A very balanced weekend.

Also Radio Interview with NSW Statewide and Helen Claire for the 10am-12pm on Sunday Morning (in Australia) midnight in France.

I have still been following the moon this week and I think I am getting the hang of my Camera, a Canon Powershot SX210 IS http://www.canon.com.au/For-You/Digital-Cameras/Powershot-Digital-Cameras/SX210IS-Camera I am photographing the moon using close to the maximum zoom .

Here is a question for everyone, what type of rocket engine is pictured below?

Till Sunday Au Revoir~! Kim

Saturday & Sunday 17th &18th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:54:00 GMT

END OF WEEK 3

This week, we have Saturday lectures to ensure that we fit in the 60 lectures accross the first 4 weeks. Nobody likes Saturday lectures as we have had a very full week. Finally I was able to rent a bicycle for the time left and the exercise will go towards mitigating the increased intake of chees and baguettes. Getting a bike reminded me of the freedom I felt when I first drove a car and gained my licence. Seeing the city by bicycle is going to be alot of fun.
Cultural night 2 is in the evening and there are presentations from USA, Belgium, Ireland, Serbia and Greece. Afterwards we have samplings of Irish coffee, a serbian homemade liqueur(quite strong) American beer and Belgian beer and chocolates.

Cultural Research Group examining Irish coffee!

Sunday Morning early a group of students headed off to Switzerland on the train. The train left the Strasbourg station at about 7:50 and after a change at Basel, went on to Interlaken by 11am. Switching trains at Interlaken, we were able to go up to Kleine Scheidegg which is in the Alps. Our mission was to hike from Kleine Scheidegg to Eiger Glacier. For more info on this go to our friend, wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiger The glacier has retreated more that 300metres in the last 5 years and has retreated more that one kilometre in the last 150 years.
The hike only took one hour from Kleine Scheidegg, however the track was steep in sections and I spent most of the time puffed. Nothing of course to do with the Panne e' chocolate that I consumed in the morning!
I apologise for the number of photos, but I spent the day really gaping at the massive scale and beauty of the mountains.

Long view of the Eiger Glacier from one of the high points on the hiking trail

View from the train going up to Kleine Scheidegg from Interlaken

Part of the hike to Eiger Glacier, which is in the top left of the photo, the sharp
ridge in the far ground was quite steep in the last part of the hike.

At the Glacier

The continuation of the glacier to the right of the previous photo

On the train returning to Interlaken

The train ride back to Strasbourg was 3 hours late and arrived at 2am not the scheduled 11pm,so after a 30 minute walk to the FEC, I have never been so happy to climb the 4 flights of stairs to my room.

Week 3 Friday 16th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:53:00 GMT

OMG- its Friday!

Favourite lecture today, Jim Dator on Space Futures. I learn't today that there is an organisation called the Hawaii centre for future studies as well as the association of futurists. There is the World Futures Studies Federation http://www.wfsf.org/ , you can even study this topic at University! Great topic for a Friday.

An interesting lecture on space debris really provided some food for thought. There are more than 10,000 pieces of space debris orbiting our planet. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Space_Debris/index.html gives some great information about the type of debris and the impact it is having on future telecommunications activities. Nasa has a similar site http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/ Jaxa http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/engineering/research/index_e.html

We discussed some of the possible impacts of earth return of debris. Some tests were previously done with a small sphere, around 1cm and this was shot at the same velocity that a piece of debris would collide with other objects in orbit, to see the impact. Judge for yourself below;

The crater in the steel is from the impact of a ball similar to the one in the foreground. Don't worry though, a piece of debris that small would burn up in the atmosphere!

The afternoon was spent encouraging our robotics competition entrants. The entrants were required to build a robot which sensed an outer boundary and any 'rocks' placed in the area. Also required was the collection of gems and each team was scored. This was a public event which attracted many children and people from the local area.

The competition area hosted by one of Robotics Greats!
One of the entries, Prochaine Station Mars (Next station Mars)

Week 3 Thursday 15th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:52:00 GMT

Watching the Moon from Strasbourg!

I wonder what is must be like as an astronaut to be able to view the moon from orbit? Dr Robert Thirsk in his lecture thisevening , 3000 orbits spoke about his 6 months on board the International Space Station. He showed a great video of his time on expedition 20/21 on the ISS and spoke in detail about his experience. Dr Thirsk spent May to December 2009 on the ISS as the flight engineer.
For more details on Bob, go to this link http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/thirsk.html
My evening with fellow students consisted of the Thursday French speaking dinner mainly spent asking outreageous questions like Veux tu m'pouser? (Will you marry me?) I did learn the phrase for could I have the water (Je voudrais de l'eau.)

Direct access to the beauty of the Universe , right out of my window in Strasbourg.

Week 3 Wednesday 14th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:52:00 GMT

Bastille Day! Fireworks and an Afternoon off!

Today is very special if you are french or an ISU SSP student. We have lectures only in the morning and then the afternoon off. Fireworks are planned for thisevening and so knowing this I took the opportunity to nap. The weather is still incredibly hot and so steamy that I think all of the students were napping thisafternoon and some groups went for a nap at Baggersee and lake nearby.

The fireworks were spectacular and it seemed like everyone in France was out at Pont Couvert where the fireworks were launched from. It was one of the best fireworks displays that I have ever experience.

Cheer Kim E

Week 3 Tuesday 13th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 07:51:00 GMT

Recovering from Paris.

After a busy Monday and the weekend in Paris, today's blog will be short. An interesting lecture today from Hugo Blomfield about spaceship earth. The idea that the earth is our life support system carrying us through space is not new. Some authors believe that the earth functions as a living organism, in particular James Lovelock whose books have become increasingly gloomy about the future.

http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/lovebioen.htm you can read about the different books which start with books claiming that as populations on earth increase, temperatures will rise, water will become scarce, food production will decline and chaos will ensue.
Perhaps the lectures prompted students to travel to Place Kle'ber a large square in Strasbourg which has pubs and eateries with outdoor seating. A group of us ate at FEC and headed over to the square with a huge package of fresh strawberries for sharing. After that we settled at a great outdoor pub only to find some of our fellow students indulging in beer giraffe's. See for yourself below.

Gifaffe's seen on the left. There is a tap on the bottom for pouring.

Week 3 Monday 12th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:22:00 GMT

Monday 12th July- Astronaut Panel at the Maison de la Region

The astronaut panel in the evening after our lectures was a very educational and fun event. Cramming 126 people onto a tram at the same time was an interesting exercise. (We did it!) As a group waiting for the astronauts to arrive, some of the students found hilarity in pressing the mike button on the desk which zoomed the camera in to the face of the person next to them. The building that we were situated in was simply beautiful.

Prior to the start of the Panel

The group of astronauts represented many of the worlds space agencies. Click on the link to the biographies document provided courtesy of ISU Astronaut Panel Biographies . The panel was moderated by Walter Peeters and Angie Buckley, Associate Dean, Professor & SSP Director . The discussion covered many areas of space operations to personal questions about the astronauts experience aboard the International Space Station or in Space.

Astronaut Panel starting with Jeff Hoffman on the far left, Chiaki Mukai, Reinhold Ewald, Angie Buckley, Walter Peeters, Jean-Jacques Favier and Robert Thirsk on the far right.

Afterwards there was a reception at the FEC with our guest astronauts where we had the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about mission specific information. On the way up to the reception I wondered just how would I start a coversation with an astronaut? It was much easier than I initially thought!

Till tomorrow Kim E

Saturday and Sunday the 10th & 11th of July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:20:00 GMT

Weekend in Paris Whoohoo!

This is the first entire weekend that is free in the schedule. The next weekend totally free is in August. I travelled late to Paris and stayed in the latin quarter of the city. I aquainted myself with the main tourist attractions of the city, firstly at Jardin des Plantes and the Museum of Natural History. For more information http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse/accueil.xsp?cl=en

Down each side of the gardens is the Allée Buffon, lined with London plane trees, Platanus x acerifolia, magnificent tree lined walkway that must contain hundreds if not a thousand trees. You can see these trees in the photo below.

Jardin des Plantes entrance from the Statue de Lamarck

Les Grande Gallerie de l' Evolution

the Eiffel Tower - looking up.

A picture that gives you the perspective/size comparison - my words were; Crikey Look at the size of that!

Moulin Rouge, I took in dinner and an amazing show, definately one of the highlights of Paris.

Arc de Triomphe after walking the entire length of the Champs de Elysees from Muse de Louvre

The start of Jardin des Tuiles after the Muse de Louvre below.

A lovely french view out my hotel window in the Latin Quarter of Paris! I finally got back to ISU on Monday morning after catching the train from Paris very early. I have to visit again before I go home.

Cheers Kim E

Week 2 Thursday and Friday 8th and 9th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:36:00 GMT

Day 9 and 10 ISU- SSP

Above is a photo in front of the International Space University Building on Thursday the 8th . It was another beautiful day on and I was able to grab a colleague to do the photo. I did an interview about my time at ISU for the NSW Law Society Journal and sent this photo at the last minute so the guys at the journal could meet their deadline. This mornings lectures included Space Propulsion, Spacecraft configuration and Satellite Imaging, payloads, sensors and data. Back to our team projects in the afternoon and a lovely evening which was spent wandering the streets with my camera, chatting and noticing the beautiful area around petit france.

Friday the 9th - Our first workshop, Space Management run by Dr Christian Sallaberger, the Vice President of MDA was a great overview of working in the Space industry as a private company. Dr Sallaberger is involved in the private commercial enterprise Odyssey Moon, dedicated to the responsible development of the moon for the benefit of all humanity.
http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/teams/odyssey-moon/about

Cultural presentations in the evening were entertaining to say the least. The Aussies put together a presentaion about a night at the pub in normal Aussie slang and provided slides with subtitles. Turkey, Nigeria, Germany and Vietnam also presented and there was alot of laughing and cheering during all presentations. This group is a highly supportive and encouraging group despite its size so that getting up infront of the group is always a positive experience. ISU has obviously taken alot of time and effort to ensure that this environment is encouraged and supported.

Afterwards we were treated to traditional cultural foods including Tim Tam's, Nigerian Cassava and spicy fish and much German Beer. Despite my best efforts to have an early night- I ended up awake until midnight again. Lucky I have no lectures on the weekend.

Off to Paris for the weekend tomorrow - Cheers Kim E

Week 2 Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 7th July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:34:00 GMT

Week 2, Day 7 and 8 ISU SSP

Many of the lectures are more in depth than I expected. The range of industry and vocations represented here within the students attending the ISU is very wide and so each one of us takes something different away from the lectures. There are engineers, scientists, lawyers, architects, military, government and regulatory authorities, media, doctors, space agency representatives and students. Add that to the range of cultures/countries represented and you have a diverse group of professionals with a wealth of experience focussing their attention on team projects and the huge task of getting to know 120 other students from 29 countries.
To find out more about the distribution of cultures/countries, do to the link and click on the SSP link ;
http://www.isunet.edu/

The ethics panel on Tuesday afternoon covered many topics and got into questions of our future activities in space and how this should be approached. Many people ask why not spend the vast sums of money spent on space research and technology on reducing poverty and feeding those who are in famine. It's a valid question for people today amid the apparent global financial crisis. Only communities can answer this question although another valid question is that of money spent on football, gambling, movies, . Why is it that the people who will spend trillions of dollars globally on activities that are largely useless but entertaining and still question the value of space science and technology research and exploration.

Following the ethics panel was a lecture from John Longsdon on the reasons for sending people to space.
Wednesday consisted of an all day exercise on teamwork training. Pictured is an affinity Diagramming exercise where each one of us wrote 3 ideas for tourist operations in space.

We spent quite alot of time in intercultural teams working through exercises. The distinguished lecture thisevening was cancelled giving us all more time for socialising.

Till tomorrow- Cheers Kim E

Week 2 ISU SSP Monday 5th July`

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 12:33:00 GMT

Monday 5th of July- Day 5 of ISU SSP

Welcome to the 2nd Week of ISU SSP. Getting up thismorning was certainly challenging, lectures continued thismorning and we covered Solar Systems with Planetary magnetosphere expert Dr James Green the Director of NASA Planetary Science Division. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/profile.cfm?Code=GreenJ

The Aurora Australia taken by Dr Green's Image Mission after a record setting solar flare Photo from http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/profile.cfm?Code=GreenJ, look to the top left of the picture and you can see Australia.

Our next two lectures, Extravehicular activity in space and systems engineering and requirements given by Jeff Hoffman. These two lectures were very focused on space missions and how you get from a problem to a solution that allows activities like EVA and spaceflight to occur. Paricularly interesting was the information about pressure suits and the gaseous life support system for astronauts. This system is important to prevent the vaporisation of bodily fluids during EVA and operations in space.

The afternoon was spent in Team Project Activities which was quite simply - chaotic. There are 44 of us, and our task this week to is product a mission statement for our project. That sounds simple, doesn't it?

Asteroid Mining Team project participants hard at work.

At the end of the day, after what seemed like an especially hot day, finally able to lie down looking out the window at the Cathedral which has become so familiar to me.

Till tomorrow! Cheers Kim E

Saturday and Sunday the 3rd and 4th of July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:27:00 GMT

WEEKEND ONE AT ISU SSP

The first week of the Space Studies Program is complete and the challenge so far is to see if you can be on time to lectures AND attend as many social functions as possible. So far this week we have had 15 one hour lectures, 7 hours of Asteroid Mining Team Project activites and introductions, the ISU SSP Pinning ceremony, SSP opening ceremony and reception at Pavillion Josephine Orangerie, Distinguished lecture 1 from David Southwood and formal class photos in front of the European Parliament. Add to this the French speaking dinner, a beautiful boat tour of Strasbourg, the Saturday afternoon Staff Student mixer at the FEC and the 4th of July celebration for the American members of our team.

Looking at this list, I suddenly realise why I feel so very tired. However ignoring my fatigue and listening to the inner urge to explore as much of Europe as possible over the Summer, a small group of students escaped Strasbourg on Sunday in a couple of cars and travelled to Germany. (Thank you Corinne and John for Driving!) Our first stop in Germany was at the historic town of Gengenback in the district of Ortenau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and is on the edge of the Black Forest. To see the route for the day, go to this link;

http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Strasbourg&daddr=Gengenbach,+Arrondissement+d'Ortenau,+Bade-Wurtemberg,+Allemagne+to:Hohengeroldseck&geocode=FRVR5QIdBSl2ACnBshheSciWRzEfJOcYMUgalw%3BFeqM4gIdM1N6ACnZaHiwjCqRRzHwXN-lt2sfBA%3B&hl=fr&mra=ls&sll=48.409377,8.078384&sspn=0.11714,0.417137&ie=UTF8&z=10

Gengenback Beer festival in full swing with German Choir/singers an amazing atmosphere

We then travelled to Hohengeroldseck a castle ruin which potentially dates back to 948 AD (depending on the source you look at) when the Hohengeroldseck family moved to Baden-Baden. The history notes that the family was involved in the mining of ore for silver.

We decided to walk to the top of the hill, and pretty quickly discovered why building a castle at the top of a hill is an effective defence against attack! Yes we walked from this point to that castle that looks so small.

An illustration of what the castle may have looked like.

On top of the castle, its a little windy up there, I recommend hanging on!

Till next week - Cheers Kim E

Friday 2nd July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 07:01:00 GMT

ISU Week 1 Day Four

I found myself in a conversation with some ISU colleagues about the military like precision required to organise yourself in the morning ensuring the correct arrival time to ISU, getting to breakfast before all the fruit runs out, and arriving to the Langstross Grand 'Rue tramstop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg_tramway)each morning with your tram pass and having successfully navigated the space shuttle like shower/toilet pod.

The ISU Building Entrance Path

The day at ISU is organised mainly into morning lectures and afternoon theme project meetings, workshops and departmental activities. Today was no different with the nice ligt subject of Astrodynamics. It's more physics than I have done since the first year of my science degree. However one of the most interesting facts which I discovered in this lecture was the earth rotates with an equatorial velocity of 0.5km per second and that if you launch a vehicle due east, you gain a boost from this velocity. For example at the ESA launch site in French Guiana in the North East of South America, launching here gives a boost of 460metres per second. As a comparison, NASA's space shuttle uses 3000kg of propellant to generate 100 metres per second. For more information on this go to this site ; http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Launchers_Europe_s_Spaceport/index.html Australia has a site ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woomera,_South_Australia the Japanese Launch site, which has been described as one of the most beautiful sites in the world. http://www.jaxa.jp/about/centers/tnsc/index_e.html

Walking back through a city in the evenings back to the FEC is simply beautiful especially the cathedral.

TGIF!

Thursday 1st of July

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:36:00 GMT

Day 4 ISU SSP Strasbourg, France

Today started like every day so far with lectures from John Longsdon from the George Washington University, Jim Dator Professor and director for the Hawai'i Research centre for future studies and James Green from the NASA Goddard Space Centre. Today was a unique day and it started pretty much as normal for here. Pretty soon after we broke to meet as for our team projects for the first time. Dr Chris Welch, the chair of our Asteroid mining team project is the Principal lecturer in Aeronautics at Kingston University and Faculty Member of the, School of Aerospace and Aircraft Engineering there.

To find out more go to this link http://kingston.academia.edu/ChrisWelch The team project included introducing each of us to the other 43 or 44 members of this team. There are two other team projects available during the course of the program, one on the carbon cycle and the other on greener space.

For more information on our team projects and the SSP Curriculum.
http://www.isunet.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=62&Itemid=88889082

I was lucky enough today to have 'Happy Birthday' sung not once, but twice today and I was presented with a fantastic cake by other SSP Participants, (thanks Claire!) There is nothing quite like 126 people singing happy birthday. You can see my cake below;

My colleagues noted my background in mining!

The asteroid mining team during my introduction where I told everyone that I loved photography.

Distinguished lecture 1 given by Dr David Southwood

The distinguished lecture give by Dr David Southwood who is the Director of Science and Robotic exploration for ESA in Paris. The lecture was on Space Science and exploration- for what it's really worth. This was an interesting discussion of how space increasingly impancts on our everyday lives. What is the future of space science and exploration for developed and developing nations?

One side of the Medieval Cathedral in the evening walking back at 10pm after the finish of the Distinguished lecture. On my return to the FEC I received at beautiful basket of chocolates and flowers from my husband. Judging by the size of the basket, he definately wants to make sure I come home!

Wednesday 30th June

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:11:00 GMT

Day 3 ISU SSP Strasbourg, France

Today we have a treat in the afternoon. The class will be given a tour in one of the many river boats that are tripping back and forwards in the canals surrounding Strassbourg. Lectures thismorning on the origins of the space age, microgravity and the electromagnetic spectrum. After lunch we have time to visit the ISU space display in the town centre. Attend the opening day of the annual french sales in the square.

Jeff Hoffman former astronaut for the NASA Space Shuttle Program and ISU TA's at space display

Mars rover simulation at ISU Space Display town centre Strasbourg

View of the town square and space display

The city has existed in one form or another for a very long time. If you are interested in the history of the area - wikipedia is helpful and local tourist sites are useful http://www.strasbourg.eu/en/index.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg

Our residence the FEC is right near the old town and so the old Sandstone Gothic Cathedral which is right nearby is a great reference. The tour through the canals of Strasbourg at 4pm was fun and interesting. Most of the historic sites can be seen from the canal which circles the city's historic centre called the Grand Island is a World Heritage site.

Many of the sights on the tours were spectacular and choosing just which photo's to add is difficult.

Medieval Pont Couverts

Eglise Saint-Etienne, partly destroyed in 1944 by Anglo-American bombing raids

Our day finished with the French speaking dinner hosted by native French speaker Corinne to help us all improve our French speaking skills. Some red french wine was provided to ensure we had the full french experience.

Until tomorrow Au revoir!

Tuesday 29th June 2010

Kim Ellis ISU SSP 2010 — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:26:00 GMT

Hi all,

Day number two of the official program was off to a shaky start following the long hot day, yesterday. Many people, including me, woke up realising that they did not drink enough water the previous day. The combination of suits and hot weather was diabolical.

Today our core lectures commenced starting with a lecture from Jeff Hoffman who is a Professor of the Practice of Aerospace Engineering MIT, Dept of Aeronautics & Astronautics USA. Jeff has flown 5 missions on the US Space Shuttle program including the Shuttles Discovery, Atlantis, Columbia and Endeavor. Go to http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/hoffman.html for Jeff's full bio. Jeff indicated that on his first mission to space, when he first acheived weightlessness, he was in awe of the sensation and could not believe he was actually in space despite his many, many hours of training. Jeff gave us a lecture on the Space Perspective as our first core lecture. After two more core lectures ( out of a total of 60 overall) and lunch, we all spent the afternoon at presentations on our departmental activity choices. This included a presentation from each department chair about their departmental activities. During the program we must each choose a department from a choice of 7 academic departments. Go to this link to read more about each department'
http://www.isunet.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=288 each department conducts a range of activities and individual team projects related to that department. My department will be Space Law and Policy which is chaired by Michael Davis, an Australian Lawyer at Adelta Legal.

Today was so crazy busy, with the absolute madness of the day before, the only photos from today are of the moon out my room window at the FEC thismorning. I still think the view is stunning!