space talk
SPRING 2016
the next generation
THE MAGAZINE FOR ALL INTERNATIONAL SPACE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI
FEATURED
SPACEPORT AMERICA18 P
Plus 6
Join Me in Our World in 2026
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The Southern Hemisphere SSP16
27
A Day in the Life with Grant Anderson
IN THIS ISSUE ARTICLES 04
Disrupt Space
06 Join Me in Our World in 2026 10
Southern Hemisphere SSP16
13
SHSSP16 - A Student’s Perspective
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The ISU Library
17
ISU’s 30th Anniversary
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FEATURED Building a Spaceport
24
Mars in Our Lifetime
27
A Day In The Life
32
Sharing Your Passion
ALUMNI AFFAIRS 34
Alumni BOT Representative Transition
36
Jurrasic Reunions
38
Recent Alumni Events
43
Alumni Travel Deals
44
Connections
THE TEAM
EDITOR IN CHIEF DR. MARIA ANTONIETTA PERINO, ISU’88
MANAGING EDITOR GRAHAM WEAVER ISU’90
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Michael Laine, SSP08 Nikita Marwaha, SSP12 / MSS13 Tahir Merali, SSP08 / MSS09
LAYOUT AND GRAPHIC DESIGN TIHOMIR DIMITROV, SSP15
Ryan Laird, SSP13 Ruth McAvinia, SSP10 Tereza Pultarova, MSS12 Remco Timmermans, SSP13 FOUNDED BY Abdul M Ismail, MSS01 and Graham Weaver, ISU’90 2
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
Kyle Acierno, MSS15 Sarah Jewell, SSP14 Mansoor Shar, MSS15
Dear all, We’re very happy to welcome you to the first edition of Space Talk – The Next Generation. This is an e-magazine produced by ISU alumni for ISU alumni of all ISU classes. The ISU alumni community is very different from the early years, now numbering over 4000 members from over 100 countries and, importantly, spread across generations from recent graduates to retirees. The Board of Trustees meeting (BOT52) in February 2015 was made aware of a lack of interconnectivity within this diverse community as a major issue. (More details on this in the article by our outgoing BOT representative, Abdul Ismail, on Page 34) There are many platforms through which alumni are connected; Facebook, LinkedIn, Regional Points of Contact and Connect2ISU. Different generations and cultures are more comfortable with some platforms than others. Our aim is to help resolve this poor interconnectivity by reaching across these platforms and across the alumni generations to bring articles, news of alumni reunions & updates, job/research opportunities and promoting connectivity through these various platforms. The name? Space-Talk was a quarterly newsletter produced by the now (sadly) inactive European Alumni Association and posted by ESA to 750+ alumni worldwide. This was probably the most widely disseminated newsletter in its day and after ~20 years we thought we’d try to build on that heritage… SpaceTalk-TNG will initially be quarterly, but if interest is high enough we may switch to monthly to offer a more timely and immediate means of interconnectivity. We hope you find something of interest within this first issue and we strongly encourage you to get in touch, offer feedback and contribute something to future issues… What counts is to stay in touch!
See the Back Cover for details on how to submit articles and comments.
The original 26 issues of Space Talk from 1989-1997
DR MARIA ANTONIETTA PERINO - EDITOR IN CHIEF
ISU’88 Alumna, ISU’89 Dept. Ass., ISU’90 Dir. for Student Relations ISU’91 Int. Mars Mission Proj. Ass., ISU’92 Visiting Lecturer, ISU’94 Visiting Lecturer SSP’95-‘03 Faculty, SSP’97 Co-Chair System Arch. & Mission Des. Dept. 1988 – 1992, President, ISU European Alumni Association Director for ESA Marketing & Sales Exploration Systems, Thales Alenia Space – Turin, Italy Member of the IAF Workforce Development / Young Professionals Program Committee. Member of the Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace Member of the International Academy of Astronautics Co-Editor of Acta Astronautica Former Vice President of the International Astronautical Federation Bureau GRAHAM WEAVER – MANAGING EDITOR
ISU’90 Alumnus ISU’91 Satellite Application Dept. Ass. ISU’92 Satellite Applications Visiting Lecturer ISU’93 – SSP’97, Member of Alumni Weekend Organising Committee 1992 – 1998, President, ISU European Alumni Association Taken Early Retirement after 29+ years at Airbus Defence & Space, Portsmouth, UK Formerly Technical Manager, RF & Electronics Product Group, ADS, Portsmouth, UK
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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DISRUPT SPACE by Magni Johannsson, SSP 14 P hilippe C yr, SSP 14 Izan Peris Mart ,íSSP 15
ABOVE The Startup Weekend Space participants after the prize announcements last April in Bremen.
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uelled by rapid advances in technology, the space sector is today experiencing an entrepreneurial renaissance. New methodologies such as “agile aerospace” is enabling rapid design cycles of complex space systems by leveraging best practices from the software and consumer electronic industries. Innovative business models are being developed with the aim of commercialising and expanding the sector’s value chain. The disruptive change to the industry is happening at a quickening pace, but with the majority of activities occurring in the US. In the rest of the world, including Europe, a lack of opportunities for innovative SMEs in commercial
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Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
space is still a common perception held by the new generation of space professionals. To begin tackling this challenge, we gathered together two volunteer teams, one in Bremen, Germany and one in Shanghai, China. We employed the Startup Weekend concept and applied it to both cities simultaneously on the topic of space. The result was two three-day events happening on April 10th-12th, 2015. The events were designed to generate lean space start-up concepts through interdisciplinary collaboration… all within 60 hours. People with non-space backgrounds were encouraged to participate and
several leaders in the global space community including entrepreneurs, academics, policy experts, technical experts, and business managers - served as mentors. The events kick-started an international grassroots movement. The first edition of this format acted as a platform to launch several innovative early stage space start-up projects in Bremen, of which
ARTICLES currently four international teams formed during the events are continuing to make headway in bringing their products and services to market. With the foundation of an international community in place from Startup Weekend Space, we have now launched the follow-on initiative: The Disrupt Space summit. The summit seeks to transform this international collaboration into sustainable entrepreneurial action. Aspiring entrepreneurs are being encouraged to develop business concepts to tackle strategic challenges submitted by international space and non-space organisations. The summit will act as a kick-off platform for new projects with direct paths to market and funding two key aspects that start-ups need. A number of select early stage start-ups will also showcase their products and services during the summit. Most importantly, however, will be the attendance of corporates, government representatives and investors, many from outside the space sector, who will receive a hands-on experience of the commercial opportunities in the space sector. We therefore aim to put key stakeholders together entrepreneurs, investors and decision makers - to collaboratively solve today’s problems using space.
Are you ready for a challenge? Want to know more? Check out http://disruptspace.io and #DisruptSpace on social media. LEFT The Disrupt Space summit will bring 300 innovators to Bremen on April 7-8 2016 to collaboratively solve today’s problems using space.
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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JOIN ME IN OUR WORLD IN
2026
by Tihomir Dimitr ov, SSP 15
An imaginary future human base on the Mo
Tihomir is a 3D Character and Vehicle Designer, space visionary and enthusiast who graduated from two space programs and is making the transition to the space industry. He can be found tracking the Space Sta after sunset or in the gym training for his future missions as an astronau In his spare time, he really enjoys writing about himself in the third pers Tihomir is recommended by 4 out of 5 people that recommend things. More articles from Tihomir on The Human Adventures in Space Exploratio
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e and our home Earth have just completed 2016’s rotation around our sun and we, as humans, made the last rotation with a great balance on the sheets. This coming year promises to be even more fascinating and I can’t help it but to keep zoomed out to where we will sit 10 years from today.
FAR ABOVE The Mars Science Laboratory - Curiosity rover, roaming on the surface of Mars in Gale crater ABOVE One-year mission American astronaut Scott Kelly making a selfie in the cupola module on board the International Space Station with Earth in the background
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What will it be like when we celebrate New Year’s Eve in 2026? I know I will most probably be on the Moon’s surface with numerous others reflecting back on this note from 10 years ago. Neil Armstrong will always be remembered as the first human to step on the Moon, but I believe the significance and novelty of
Buzz Aldrin’s footstep on the moon surface
LEFT The Juno spacecraft launched in 2011 it is about to arrive to Jupiter in July this year and to deliver exciting new information about the biggest planet in our solar system
oon BELOW December 22, 2015 - SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s booster makes history by landing back on Cape Canaveral being the first reusable rocket
ABOVE The New Horizons spacecraft - launched in 2006 it made a historic close flyby near Pluto delivering stunning images and scientific information about the dwarf planet existing on the Moon will diminish. In fact, it will happen if we are going to become a space faring civilisation. People might be skeptical about this view but that’s because they are not fully informed or can’t see the big picture. Look around you. Today you log into the giant virtual human brain and suddenly you are looking at the world from
ation ut. son.
420 km above from space. We launched more than one rocket per week last year and we landed our first rocket back on Earth! Yes, we are in the brink of making space travel an ordinary travel. The New Horizons spacecraft we launched 10 years ago is making its way through that special place in our solar system inhabited by Pluto and taking close-up pictures of this distant world billions of kilometers from Earth. We have orbiters around Mars that have mapped the whole planet and guide giant robotic rovers down on the surface, much like every corner of our planet has been scanned
on
An imaginary future human base on Mars with astronauts explorers making an EVA outside the base
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BELOW Hubble Space Telescope - 25 years expaning our knowledge of the Universe
RIGHT Voyager - our emissary outside our solar system (carrying the Golden disk with sounds and images from Earth
Artist’s impression of the SpaceX’s crewed Dragon spacecraft and its first landing on the surface of the Red planet
into a giant virtual map guiding you from space via a pocket supercomputer that tracks your location. We have a permanent human presence in space where astronauts are staying for one year in our orbital Space Station. It is so big that you can play football inside! There is the Juno spacecraft that is about to give us
ABOVE Tesla Motors’ giga-factory will be the main source of lithiumion batteries for Tesla Model III
crucial answers about Jupiter this year. These will help us better understand the creation of our solar system as our robotic spacecraft roam, increasing human knowledge about the local neighborhood. We also have the Cassini spacecraft orbiting the Saturn system conducting heavy science up there. Interstellar emissaries in the form of the Voyager 1 & 2 spacecraft that were launched almost 40 years ago, hold in them the signatures that describe everything human. We are also developing propulsion methods that will enable us to reach the red planet in less time, and we are on the biggest quest that humankind is about to undertake – to RIGHT Solar energy is the energy source that will sustain our civilization in the near future
ABOVE Tesla Model S - the first mass production all electric car, produced by Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors. This car changes our perception of the electric cars 8
RIGHT The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover down on the surface of Mars as seen by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO), orbiting around Mars
RIGHT A view of Earth’s surface from the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting our planet on an altitude of ~ 420km RIGHT DOWN We discovered our place in our galaxy The Milky Way save the environment of its own home, spaceship Earth, and to send the first human ambassadors to Mars. Speaking of saving the environment where we live, it is amazing to see people turning to renewable energy sources, changing their way of thinking and using the giant nuclear fusion reactor in the sky that rises every day – instead of digging like moles in the ground underneath. Cars are starting to drive themselves and are turning electric. New
means of transportation – ultra-fast tube travel in the form of the Hyperloop are invented from the ground up for close-proximity cities. Gigafactories powered only by sunlight are being built. Giant telescopes on ground and in space expand our knowledge of our Universe so that we understand how space and time came to be. We know our place in our own galaxy – the Milky Way – isn’t that amazing?! So, yes, looking at the “wizardry” we are doing today, I can’t help but wake up excited in the middle of the night, doing everything I can to contribute towards our first colonies on the Moon, Mars and our brighter future here on Earth.
BELOW The Hyperloop the new ultra-fast means of transportation between cities is in its experimental phase
BACKGROUND A spacecraft sent from Earth is about to enter the Martian atmosphere
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THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
SPACE STUDIES PROGRAM
by Steven S. P ietrobon, ISU’90 Proprietor of Small World Communications Designing error control encoders and decoders for mobile and satellite communications
SHSSP16 Class Photo
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he International Space University (ISU) Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program (SHSSP) is a five week version of the main nine week Space Studies Program (SSP). The SHSSP started in 2011 at the University of South Australia (UniSA) Mawson Lakes campus in Adelaide, South Australia. UniSA has a long history with ISU having signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ISU in 1991 and held its first SSP in the Southern hemisphere in 2004. That was when the SSP changed its name from the Summer Session Program, since it was certainly not Summer when the SSP was held here in the middle of the year. The SHSSP is held during the Southern hemisphere
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Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
Summer from January to February, complementing the main SSP. Initial funding support came from the Australian Space Research Program (ASRP) which ended in 2013 when the ASRP was concluded. The SHSSP is now self funded. This year the sponsors or providers of scholarships are the Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund, Secure World Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), Engineers Australia, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Adelaide Section and the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. From 2011 to 2014, the Directors of the SHSSP were Dr. Scott Madry and Mr. Michael Davis, who
were instrumental in getting the program started. The 2015 SHSSP was planned to be held in South Africa, but due to difficulties was not held. This year, the SHSSP is back in Adelaide with Mr. John Connolly from NASA and Mr. Davis as Directors. There are 31 students from nine countries, with the largest contingent being from China with 13 students, next is Australia with 11 students and then one student each from Canada, Costa Rica, India, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Two of the Australian students are originally from Norway and Mauritius. The week before the SHSSP starts, students can take the Space English Access Course (SEAC), where they can catch up on English skills. The SHSSP began with the Opening Ceremony, held at the Allan Scott Auditorium in the UniSA City West campus. The first week has lectures on the Origins of the Space Age, Economic and Policy Rationales for Space, Origins and Principles of Space Law, The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Financial Aspects and Business Structures and Planning, Human Space Exploration, The Solar System, The Space Environment, Human Adaptation to Spaceflight and Countermeasures, Being an Astronaut, International Space Policy and Spacecraft Configuration and Systems. Special lecturers were astronauts Bob Thirsk and Jean-Jacques Favier, who also presented at the Astronaut Public Event. Workshops were Planetarium Visit, Intercultural Communication, Team Building, Artificial Gravity, Human Adaptation to Spaceflight and Cubesat Project Introduction. The main project for the SHSSP is the production of a White Paper. The first White Paper was
Paths to Progress in 2011, written by the 43 SHSSP students. Its mission statement was “To propose space-related policies and strategies to serve current and future social and economic needs of Southern Hemisphere States.” 2012 was titled Reach 2020 “Tele-reach for the Global South.” The Global South is defined as those countries below the Tropic of Capricorn. 2013 was Common Horizons “To propose collaborative solutions for the Global South that contribute to the sustainability of space for the benefit of Earth and humankind.” The last White Paper in 2014 was Our Turbulent Sun “Emerging tools for disaster management in the Global South.” The White Paper topic for this year is Food and Water Security, which is sponsored by NASA. The White Papers can be downloaded from the ISU library at http://isulibrary.isunet.edu/ A side project for this year is the Cubesat Project. This is launching a cubesat simulator from local company LaunchBox carrying a camera on a weather balloon. This was performed on Australia Day, the 26th of January, from Mount Barker. The second week has lectures on Space Medicine, The International Space Station, Spacecraft Systems and Integration, The Sun, Introduction to Satellite Applications, Orbital Dynamics, The Reality of International Cooperation, Cultural Rationales for Space Activities, Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Space and Society, Space Situational Awareness, Space Systems Engineering and Requirements, Propulsion and Launch Systems, Commercial Spaceflight, International and Domestic Regulation of Launches, Space Mission Design and Remote Sensing Policy and Regulation. Workshops SHSSP16 Astronaut Panel
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Participants with astronauts
were on Expeditionary Behaviour, Systems Took Kit (STK), Crisis Communications and the Cubesat Project. This week’s public event was on Space and Security. The first Culture night was also held, where students give a presentation of their country. The third week has lectures on Fundamentals of Space Telecommunications, Satellite Communications Regulatory Aspects, Commercialisation of Satellite Communications, Space in Europe, New Space, Space Robotics, Space in Africa, Positioning Navigation and Timing, Life Cycle of Stars and Astrophysics, Spacecraft Systems and Astrobiology. Workshops were at the Institute for Telecommunications Research (ITR) and Speedcast Teleport and on Satellite Commercialisation, Australia in Space, Robotics, Remote Sensing and the Global Position System (GPS). The public event was on Space and Entrepreneurship with two culture nights, one on Australia day and the other on Friday for other countries.
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The fourth weeks has the last lectures with topics of Management of Space Projects, The Future of Space Activities, Cosmology and Ethics and Space Exploration. The dreaded exam on what the students have learned also takes place. Work on the White Paper now swings into full time. The public event is on Space and Popular Culture with the last Culture night on Friday. The last week concentrates on finishing the White Paper and preparing for its presentation on Thursday. After the presentation there are Alumni Day activities in the afternoon with the obligatory Space Masquerade Ball in the evening, where the students can have some fun. The last day on Friday is the closing ceremony, which ends an intense and exciting five weeks of the program. Although that ends the program for the students, the SHSSP will be busy preparing for next years program, to be held again here in Adelaide.
SHSSP16 Opening Ceremony
SHSSP16 A STUDENT’S PERSPECTIVE by Dominic Hardy, SH-SSP16 Dominic works at Accenture and is an Analyst in business and technology integration. He is a Mechatronics Engineering graduate and was previously in the Royal Australian Air Force.
ABOVE At the opening ceremony, the Australian participants smile with reckless abandon, without the slightest notion of what the next few weeks have in store for them, while a very serious Wenhai Cao (back) considers engineering project posters on the wall, likely noting improvements that can be made. Shoujun Zhao leads the team in a series of solo forms as they learn the ancient art of Tai chi during Chinese Culture Night
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he Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program (SHSSP) was conducted in Adelaide, Australia as a joint venture between the International Space University (ISU) and the University of South Australia (UniSA) for the fifth time in 2016, strengthening the continued relationship between these two institutions. SH-SSP16 was an overwhelming success for staff and students alike, it was full of new experiences and new challenges. It is said that each SH-SSP is better than the last, and so the burden falls to the participants of SH-SSP17 to pick up the torch, breathe life into it, and set a blazing trail to the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2017. In just five short weeks, the participants of SH-SSP16 13
took that same torch with gusto and carried it to dizzying heights, launching a stratospheric balloon in collaboration with Launchbox and the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group (AREG). The participantbuilt payload took photos in the visible and infrared spectra at altitudes up to 36 km above the Earth, in order to investigate the use of post-processed satellite images in agriculture. This application was not chosen arbitrarily; it fed into the body of knowledge that the group formed on Food and Water Security in the Global South. This topic was the basis of the white paper (sponsored by NASA and Secure World Foundation) that the group had to deliver. Within days of arriving, the 31 participants from 11 countries had begun collaborating and forming strong bonds, embodying the ISU’s 3-Is (interdisciplinary, international and intercultural). As engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, project managers and scientists, they worked together to tackle the white paper topic by considering the challenges that face different countries around the world. This diverse group were fortunate enough to have industry leaders in their midst, from experts in space medicine to directors of satellite companies, leading rocket propulsion scientists, CEOs and an even smattering of senior engineers who have worked on lunar probes and space flight programs. The SH-SSP16 program schedule was ever-fluid,
Courtesy of the SH-SSP16 payload build team, from the stratospheric balloon launch, over 30km above the Earth. 14
ABOVE The balloon has liftoff! NASA’s John Connolly reluctantly let’s AREG give the countdown as the balloon is released, after nearly missing the allocated flight window pushing participants beyond their natural limits and saw different people stepping up to take on leadership roles. Many team members were battle-hardened and banded together through the adversity of shifting deadlines, uncertainty with new projects like the balloon launch, power outages on campus and the need to hone in on a tight scope with a broad white paper topic. The participants of SH-SSP16 will be remembered by ISU staff not just because of their comradery,
The room is waiting with bated breath for ISU President Professor Walter Peeters to introduce astronauts and participant favorites Dr. Robert Thirsk and Professor Jean-Jacques Favier at the astronaut panel or their willingness to try new things and explore outside of their comfort zones. They will be remembered for breaking down cultural barriers, for letting the non-native English speakers have their say, and for detecting problems early and suggesting solutions.
members received an individually-tailored award, while John Connelly played fitting numbers on the keyboard to fill out the mood. This ceremony was the first of its kind and the group hope that they have started a new tradition for ISU in further recognising the value of participant contributions to the overall experience of any SSP.
Staff commented throughout the course that never before had they seen such a cohesive, tightly-knit group with particularly strong ties between the Chinese delegates and the native English speakers.
The team revelled in the festivities that SH-SSP had on offer, taking the importance of culture nights to heart and unabashedly sharing the good, the bad and the ugly of their cultures with the group. These moments will be cherished in the memories of the participant group as they reflect on the workload they shared in the years to come and smile when they recall the ludicrousness of those culture nights and other activities.
ABOVE The participants dig in after a hard week of work and enjoy the lavish spread put on by the Chinese group So much so, that on the night of the Space Masquerade Ball, the participants led an Oscarsstyled award ceremony wherein each of the 31
When all was said and done, participants looked back at the previous five weeks and were extremely grateful for the incredible opportunities the course offered. They had risen from the ashes of their former selves after being pushed to the brink by an experience unlike any other. With their flights home looming on the horizon, as they made their preparations and said their goodbyes to their new family, they reflected that while this journey was coming to an end, another journey was beginning. A journey in which they will continue their lives abroad, but part of them would always be irreversibly changed. As they dried their tears and began to part, one resounding question hung in the air, a lingering reminder of the intense debates and discussions that had taken part in the last few weeks: when will Australia have a space agency, and how can I help? 15
THE ISU LIBRARY
by Muriel Riester, ISU Library Manager From its start in 1995 to its new look for a new decade, we explore the changing face of the Library and discover it’s still at the heart of the International Space University.
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id you know? There are 8,000 books and reports, 250 eBooks, 45 databases, 122 Team Projects, 150 novels, 540 visual materials and DVDs, covering all aspects of the space sector! That’s the unique collection of the Library at ISU Central campus. The collection reflects the multidisciplinary aspect of lectures given at ISU. The Library supports excellence in faculty research and teaching and is an integral part of student and participants’ academic experience. The Library started with a few boxes of journals and books which used to be shipped every year to the first SSPs’ host sites. Then, in 1994, when ISU came to Strasbourg to base its central campus there, a room was dedicated to the Library with shelves and working spaces and the collection was enriched with subscriptions to academic journals, more books, documents given by our sponsors, and… an online catalogue. Students of the MSS program had access to a Library on site. For SSP participants, every year, we used to create a small ISU Library at the SSP and all ISU central campus staff were put to work to load the 80-100 boxes of selected documents on the
truck, which delivered SSP material at the host site! Today, with the digitisation of content and the ubiquity of the internet, information is no longer confined to printed materials accessible only in a single, physical location. The ISU Library reinvented itself and our role has become less about housing tomes, but more about connecting learners, curating, collecting and disseminating good stuff. At the ISU Library, we follow these trends! We have rearranged our Library space to encourage sociability, collaborative learning and working in a comfy environment. To support our off-site users and distant programmes, we invest in digital technologies and online resources. And finally, we use social networks to curate information and disseminate news about the Library among our current and past users. Stay connected! Library website: https://isulibrary.isunet.edu/opac Facebook: InternationalSpaceUniversityLIBRARY Twitter: IntSpaceUniv Library@MurielRiester Pinterest: ISULibrary
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Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
CAPTURING 30 YEARS OF
ISU HISTORY –
WITH YOUR HELP
by Remco Timmermans, SSP 13
Social Media Marketing Specialist and Owner at Seventy Media ISU SSP16 TP Chair and Social Media Lead
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ext year it will be 30 years since the famous ISU founding conference was held at MIT in Cambridge. The SSP17 Space Studies Program at CIT in Cork, Ireland, will mar k the 30th edition of the ISU flagship summer pro gram. To date, over 4,000 people have attended one of the ISU programs. This group of people is now leading the global space industry from a wid e variety of locations, including many key dec ision making positions. It is the power of this netw ork, in combination with the best academic pro gram in the industry that keeps attracting young professionals from all over the world to ISU . To celebrate this anniversary and bring the power of the network even more to life, we are wor king on a large image repository of all ISU classes to date. This obviously includes all 30 SSP classes, but also all MSS, EMBA and SH-SSP classes. Althoug h ISU has collected a significant amount of materia l in its own archives, there is still a lot missing.
So here is where we need your help! Please have a look at the ISU Flickr pages, where we are building this repository. It already contains most of
the material available from ISU itself. For several years ‘memory CD’s’ were issued, contain ing a lot of material. These have now all been publish ed in albums on the ISU Flickr page. You will also notice a lot of classes still missing though. Especia lly the SSP classes before 2000 and still all MSS, EM BA and SHSSP classes are missing. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ internationalspaceuniversity/albums If you don’t see your class in the list, and you have material to share, then we would really like to get in touch with you! If you can scan (or pho tograph) a few of your best photos, that you don’t min d sharing with your fellow alumni and the wor ld, we would be very grateful! Please contact Remco Timmermans (remco.timmermans@com munity. isunet.edu) to get the material onto the pag e. Obviously you will remain the copyright hold er and be mentioned as the photographer.
The objective is to have a complete set of albums of every ISU programs by 2017.
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FEATURED by John Jennings, ISU’90 John is an Associate Partner with Foster + Partners and is currently working in the Middle East
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he project to build the world’s first private spaceport came to our office (Foster + Partners architects in London) through an international competition in 2006. The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Building, or Spaceport America as it was later to be called, occupies a 27 square mile area in the Southern part of New Mexico close to the historic El Camino Real trail, close to the White Sands missile range. Foster + Partners were selected as the lead designers for the project and headed up a team of British and American architects and engineers.
SPACEPORT
AMERICA Main visitor approach to the facility
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The building is organised into a highly efficient and rational plan and has been designed to relate to the dimensions of the spacecraft it houses. Being a visitor centre as well as a training and launch facility there is a careful balance between accessibility and privacy. The astronaut areas and visitor spaces are fully integrated with the rest of the building to convey the thrill of space travel whilst the more sensitive zones – such as the control room – are visible to the visitors, but have limited access.
Visitors and astronauts approach the building via a deep central channel cut into the landscape. The retaining walls to either side form an exhibition space that documents the history of the region and its settlers, alongside a history of space exploration. The strong linear axis continues on a galleried level to the double height hangar, which houses the White Knight Two and SpaceShipTwo spacecraft and the simulation room, through to the terminal building.
View of the facility from the apron with WhiteKnightTwo parked
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The western zone of the facility houses support and administrative facilities for Virgin Galactic and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, whilst the eastern zone encompasses the principal operational training area, departure lounge, spacesuit dressing rooms, and celebration areas. The mission control room has a direct view to the east of the apron and runway, a view which is shared by visitors in the onsite restaurant. Sustainability is very important to our office so the building has been designed to have a minimal impact on the environment and to minimise energy consumption. The main volume of the terminal is dug into the landscape to exploit the thermal mass of the concrete structure which buffers the building from the extremes of the New 20
Aerial view of the complex and runway
Mexico climate as well as catching the westerly winds for natural ventilation. The hot desert air is pre-cooled before entering the building during the daytime by funnelling it through two long rock labyrinths which absorb the heat from the incoming air and then carry it away using a geothermal loop. Active cooling is achieved by chilled beams (actively cooled concrete floor or roof slabs) and underfloor cooling rather than more traditional air conditioning as this provides a quieter and more comfortable environment for the building’s occupants and is much more efficient. Electrical consumption is reduced by introducing natural daylight into the deep plan of the building through small apertures in the concrete roof shell. Other environmental features include recycling 100% of the waste water used within the building 21
and using aggregates (crushed rock) sourced from local quarries for the construction of the runway and apron areas which helps to reduce the amount of CO2 generated by the transport of building materials to the site – the energy that goes into creating the building materials and transporting them to site is just as important as the running cost of the finished building. The building successfully achieved a LEED (green building certification) Gold standard and has managed to reduce the electrical energy consumption by 31% The building was officially opened in October 2011 and is now home to several aerospace companies,
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the most publicised of which is probably Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic team who, with Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites, claimed the $10M Ansari X Prize with their SpaceShipOne craft (the X-Prize was, of course, one of Peter Diamandis’ projects). Virgin Galactic is the Spaceport’s anchor tenant and will operate up to two WhiteKnight Two vehicles (the twin fuselage jet aircraft which take the space vehicle up to an altitude of 50,000 feet) and five reusable SpaceShipTwo spacecraft which can carry six astronauts and two pilots on a sub-orbital flight which will give them an out-ofthe-seat microgravity experience as well as official astronaut status.
The Spaceport is not only home to Virgin Galactic, however. It is already a busy launch facility and home to SpaceX’s Falcon 9R and UP Aerospace which has recently completed its tenth rocket launch. The facility is growing and it is hoped will become a new centre for the commercial space industry creating new high-tech jobs for the region.
reach of more and more people. Who knows, perhaps in the not too distant future we will be reading about someone’s first hand account of a flight in the Virgin Galactic spacecraft in this magazine…
The facility has been described as “the Kittyhawk” of the commercial space industry and is very likely just the first of several such facilities that will be built in various locations around the world as commercial space travel comes within financial
White Knight Two and Spaceship Two in the hangar
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HUMANS TO MARS IN OUR LIFETIME –
THE ANALOG RESEARCH PROGRAM OF THE AUSTRIAN SPACE FORUM
by Gernot Groemer, SSP 96 Dr. Gernot Groemer is the president of the Austrian Space Forum and leads the PolAres research programme, including building a spacesuit simulator for Mars
ABOVE Space education & outreach: The children’s spacesuits are in combination with the Dignity Mars rover mock-up at festivals and classroom activities. Under certain conditions, these assets are also rented to external parties, or used for film productions
B
ack in 1997, during the Mars Pathfinder landing on the Red Planet, the ISU SSP took place in Houston/Texas, offering a team project on “International Strategies for the Exploration of Mars”. Almost no one amongst the student body had an idea what future humanrobotic mission might look like, beyond the early versions of the NASA Design Reference Mission,
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Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
nor had any of us a vision of what scientific discoveries the next generation of Mars rovers would lie ahead. However – back in Austria – this stimulus back than led to the foundation of the Austrian Space Forum (Österreichisches Weltraum Forum, OeWF), the national ISU Alumni organisation and a lot of things have evolved tremendously since then. This is our story. From zero to cubesats and spacesuits
ABOVE Photo (c) KuntscherGregor: Analog astronauts Carmen Koehler and Inigo Munoz-Elorza during a break at the AMADEE-15 Mars simulation on a glacier site at almost 3000m altitude in August 2015. During this field mission, a set of field activities ranging from geosciences, astrobiology and human factors was used to emulate the reconnaissance of a Martian glacier. The Austrian Space Forum was formed back in 1998 by a group of Austrian SSP alumni and after a few years of organising workshops and public lectures, the team headed for more substantial challenges: These ranged from large-scale space education & outreach activities like exhibitions in shopping malls, street science and classroom activities to research & development projects including stratospheric balloons and astrobiology research. The first cubesat, where the Austrian Space Forum provides the communication subsystem as well as the ground segment, is scheduled for launch in mid-2016 for the QB50/ Pegasus.
a standing corps of carefully selected analog astronauts – often also ISU alumni, who currently log a total of more than 600 hours of simulated EVA time on analog Mars missions.
The one initiative the Austrian Space Forum is probably best known for is the series of Mars analog research projects. These include building fully functional research-grade prototypes of spacesuit simulators and robotic vehicles and then testing them in Mars-like areas in the deserts of Utah, the vast expanses of the Northern Sahara, the arid landscapes of the Spanish Rio-Tinto or the giant subsurface ice-caves of the Dachstein Mountains in Austria. The OeWF is home to
Interested in getting involved ? With almost 200 members, the Austrian Space Forum offers a variety options for getting engaged in fields ranging from robotics, cubesats, stratospheric ballooning, space policy, human Mars exploration and spacesuit development to remote science support strategies. We have a standing team of volunteer flight controllers operating our Mission Support Center during missions and a
International cooperation, interdisciplinary research approaches and intercultural collaboration are a must in the Austrian Space Forum, where many of the almost 200 members come from outside Austria. The Forum has hosted ISU alumni for internships and individual research projects and has a series of formal relationships ranging from the Space Generation Advisory Council and various citizen science organizations across Europe.
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dedicated team of researchers engaged in international projects. Courses the organisation offers include; 2-day short courses “Introduction to Spacesuit Systems”, or a newly established Mission Support Center basic training for field missions. The next call for analog astronauts might be in 2017. ISU alumni have joined the OeWF since its inception, five of the six members of the board of directors attended SSP or MSS programs. Also, there is a growing interest for institutional partnerships, especially in the field of planetary analog missions. – If you are interested in a potential collaboration, feel free to contact the OeWF at info@oewf.org.
ABOVE During the MARS2013 simulation of the Austrian Space Forum in the Northern Sahara, researchers from 23 nations participated with experiments. These missions help to understand the operational constraints and opportunities planetary surface missions will offer. A dedicated Remote Science Support team, as part of the Mission Support Center is optimising the scientific workflows of the field crews.
Further reading: www.oewf.org
BELOW The OeWF Mission Support Center in Innsbruck Austria, here led by flight director and ISU alumnus Alexander Soucek. This hub receives field telemetry with time-delay, mimicking the signal travelling time between Earth and Mars
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A DAY IN THE LIFE Grant Anderson, ISU’91
President & CEO at Paragon Space Development Corporation
This will be a regular series of articles in SpaceTalk-TNG, where we ask prominent members of the ISU alumni community to tell us about themselves, their careers, their current jobs and how being an ISU alumnus has influenced them…
Please, list your ISU affiliation: Program & Year: Summer Session, 1991,
Toulouse, France. (Paragon also holds a trustee seat for ISU)
Tell us a little about yourself - Personal Background (Social, Economic, Educational) My family roots are in Northwestern Iowa, USA, but I was born in Virginia to a career diplomat family. My early memories are of living abroad and travelling back to the United States for home leave. My first four trips across the Atlantic were on ships, not planes (which dates me, I know!). Growing up overseas, learning new cultures and being exposed to expatriate life of a US citizen gives you a different perspective on both the US and abroad and forces you to forge cross-cultural sensitivity. This experience undoubtedly allowed me to develop the strength that I still show today when dealing with challenging situations and I feel primed to be prepared for anything the future holds by taking the time to assess a problem, learn the perspectives of those involved and then find solutions. My passion for excellence has been my foundation for success and some of the first steps I took in that direction were to pursue excellent education and attend Stanford University where I earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering (B.S.) and Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (M.S.). I also rowed for the Stanford Crew team which requires focus and a stick-to-it attitude. Growing up the son of a diplomat sounds exotic, but back in those days government employees were
not “rich”, especially a large family of 5 children of which I’m the youngest, in any measure - except in experiences which has made all the difference. Going to Stanford, I was exposed to a great education, but a lot of my “learning” came about due to the outside jobs I pursued to pay for it, which included aviation industry work (I actually had a small part in the start of two airlines) and real-estate financial work right when computers were hitting every desk and changing the industry. My varied background had a large part in my future entrepreneurship.
Do you still work in the space sector? Paragon, which I co-founded (with some other ISU grads too) over 22 years ago provides engineering services and products in life support and thermal control in extreme environments… and space is the ultimate extreme environment! We also do work and make products for underwater, for extreme altitudes (above land-based altitudes) and for enclosed spaces where life needs technology to survive. I do not see myself anywhere else.
Please summarise your role in 2 sentences My main role at Paragon is to provide strategic and visionary leadership for the company. Having held many positions at Paragon since its inception, I also feel it important that I continue to lead and direct the other executive leaders and directors of the organisation - but always coming back to the focus and touchstones of the company to do excellent work. 27
ISU INVOLVEMENT How did ISU influence or assist you in your career & current role/function? My involvement with ISU reinforced my desire to become a leader in the industry as well as provided me with the network and platform to forge an organisation that inspires others to follow their dreams. When I attended ISU I was a mid-level engineer at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space working as the Chief Design Engineer on the ISS solar arrays. But when I came back, I saw a whole new paradigm of space endeavours including small satellites and space life support. Paragon was founded less than two years after I returned from ISU.
Have you maintained contact with many of your ISU classmates? Today I am happy to say that I see many of my ISU classmates at various industry conferences throughout the year. In the ISU network, there are too many to name, but Taber MacCallum (88), Dave Bearden (91) and Max Nelson (90) all were involved in founding Paragon. I am proud to count ISU founders Peter Diamandis, Bob Richards and Dava Newman as friends. And of course ISU grads are spread throughout the industry and I run into them regularly at industry events.
How often do you leverage your ISU network to achieve your role/function objectives? My ISU network is just as important as any other network I have formed in my career. It is with their support that I am able to exchange ideas and foster new opportunities. As the ISU graduate population ages, they are taking more and more positions of leadership in space and the network of ISU grads help me and Paragon to stay in touch and forge partnerships and alliances. One piece of advice I would give any young professional today is join those groups that surround you with other future leaders. As your career goes forward, both you and they will meet successes that you can work together to leverage into even greater achievement.
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BACKGROUND Grant Anderson and Allan Eustace (for and the spacesuit used in the record-breaking 135,890 ft ( in October, 24, 2014. Paragon was the Prime Contractor
rmer Google Executive) (41.42km) “space dive” for the effort
CAREER PATH How has your career developed to arrive where you are? After ISU I tried both internally at Lockheed Martin and externally to push forward human exploration in space and to further space technology. Paragon was founded to further those aims. The ISU experience and network allowed me to surround myself with individuals with the same passions. Since founding Paragon, I have led several large teams in the industry through successful small and large development and flight programs. I believe that it is my strong but caring leadership skills of a diverse team as well as my technical capabilities that led me to where I am today.
5 years ago, where did you see yourself today? Five years ago I would have told you that I was going to eventually become the President and CEO of Paragon. Having held almost every leadership position (both financial and technical) it was the logical evolution.
5 years from now, where do you see yourself? In five years I see myself as the leader of Paragon, which will become one of the most sought after life support technology companies in the world. Our space goals can be summed up by the “elevator pitch” vision that everyone going to space will look up and see “Your Life Support System Provided by Paragon” on the bulkhead - and that’s all that will be needed to give confidence in those systems. To achieve this, it takes focus, strategy and innovation with a healthy dose of drive and perseverance. The ability to take a concept as I did in 1993, define that concept into a mission and strategy and work hard to see it through to success is what drives me today. If Paragon achieves its Vision sooner, I may move on to public service. I was voted in 1991 at ISU as “the most likely to be leading NASA”. While that’s Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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really not my goal, being the Chief Engineer of that organisation may fit my skills and passions.
What does this mean to you?
·
Personally
·
Professionally
Success, personally and professionally, is to set out to do what I love and complete it. This is not only for my benefit, but for the feeling of accomplishment and victory that it gives to the team. Nothing is better than being able to congratulate your employees for work that is well done, cutting-edge, and that makes a difference in the industry and for the human race. I am just a part of that, and to be part of something bigger than yourself is, to me, the source of professional satisfaction.
CURRENT JOB What do you most love about your job/ business? What gets you up in the morning? The fact that my company makes the products that support exploration and human life in extreme environments both outside of our planet and in hostile planetary environments is inspiring and certainly what gets me up in the morning. What’s better than forging the path in exploration of the human race day-to-day and seeing the goal of life being protected and supported no matter where humans go in the future? What are you working on now? My current focus is on achieving the company’s Vision and Mission through a well-thought-out strategic plan. Implementing this plan throughout the company is fundamental for our success. We are working on the best technology for air quality (CO2 control, humidity control), water recover and quality (our systems provide 98% water recover from wastes) and thermal control (our thermal systems move heat more efficiently and safely than anyone’s out there). I can’t go into details but suffice it to say that every new human vehicle going to orbit has our technology or architectures implemented that we’ve developed over our 20 years - and we are going to continue doing that. It matters because my children, your children, space travelling friends of mine, explorers and the human race may be depending on it for the foreseeable future. How do you measure success personally? Success can be measured in so many ways. For 30
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me personally, I would say it is measured by the relationships I have with those around me. Whether it is my staff or my ISU classmates, those relationships are what drive my success and allow me to make, hopefully, a difference in their achievements. When my board asked me how I would measure my success as President and CEO, I said that I would measure myself successful when I could take a 3 month sabbatical and not worry about the company. It means I’ve built a Vision, Mission, Strategy and a team that is focused, competent and ready to take on any challenge. Team success if more important than any personal success in business. What are the most important changes happening in the Space industry from your perspective and how do you think they’ll affect your present role? Space is emerging from a government/countrylead endeavour to a partnership of commercial and government entities that are pushing the frontier. Almost all major technical endeavours have followed this path - transportation, energy, information to name a few. Paragon has straddled the commercial/ government coalitions from its inception, but this new era of commercial leadership is making the industry more dynamic and responsive to a wider range of challenges. Paragon has responded and is responding to this environment. Whereas before the best technology and best government relationships won out, the space industry will be led by those with the vision and the protected technology to stay ahead of the pack and lead, not follow. There is a role for the commercial sector, and a role for the government sector in this endeavour. The key is to make sure these roles do not collide but complement each other - much as the NACA and emerging aviation firms did in the 1920s through the 1950s in the US. The space industry, worldwide, is undergoing a renaissance of innovation and achievement not seen since the 1960s. This will take us beyond Earth orbit to the moon, asteroids and planets and, who knows, even beyond. Paragon’s Vision is to have a part in that, and in the areas of life support and thermal control, lead the way both on teams and as an individual company. My present role is to define and achieve that Vision. I have to point out that a threat to that vision may be the development of “camps” of pro-industry, pro-government and individual ego that can thwart any achievement as we descend into bickering on who is best, who is most able and the false idea that achievement is a zero-sum game where one’s success is a threat to another’s. In this industry we are tied
together in so many ways, and achievement will be measured by our children’s quality of life.
monetary reward as we would like. As President and CEO, it’s my job to change that.
What was your most significant success? Building a company that can focus on technical excellence while doing cutting-edge engineering and inspiring projects.
What did you learn from it? It’s not enough to be the visionary if you don’t protect the niche you have carved out and aggressively promote it. It’s much better to be unknown, but everyone paying you to use your products, than to be world-renown but watch others achieve financial success based on your team’s intellectual innovations and achievements.
Why did it work? Paragon has a reputation for technical excellence due to our methodical approach to challenges. But the key is to not stifle the creativity and initiative with too much process while reaching back to our touchstones of doing quality work for a critical technology on which, quite literally, lives depend. Have we always been successful in achieving that balance? No, that’s what a learning organisation is all about. But when we complete a project, it’s rare that we are not called out for being a team player that does it right, and if we have a bump in the road, we fix it honestly, quickly and with purpose, and move forward. What did you learn from it? There’s a fine line between control and leadership. You can perfectly navigate a car off a cliff. What distinguishes those that achieve and those that fall by the wayside is keeping an eye on the vision (focus) and responding to the environment that you are in. Good leaders give their teams to Vision and the goals and facilitate - which may mean getting out of the way! What was you most significant Failure? As a small company, large projects can take your focus off the longer-term. Paragon has seen competition arise that we did not predict and did not respond to in a timely fashion even as we were seeing international recognition of our successes. Often we were focused on the “fun, inspiring project” without properly attending to the business of protecting our Intellectual Property (IP) and negotiating our position effectively. Why didn’t it work? Lack of focus on the details. Maybe this was caused by the fact that none of the Paragon founders had formal business school training. We’re taking a page from Silicon Valley and becoming excellent in our approach to identifying, protecting and monetizing our IP. We are sharpening our strategic planning and positioning. We see the effect of Paragon’s vision throughout the industry in the emerging architectures of environmental control and life support in space endeavours, but we’re not seeing as much of the
Anything Else You’d Like to Say? Everyone only has a finite time to live a life of fulfillment and achievement. Personally, if you follow your dreams, remain true to yourself, and do what you say you will do, (and surround yourself with those that do), you will be successful. As a leader, it’s not enough to achieve your gaols and visions but leave a swath of personal destruction in your wake. Those of us in leadership positions have an obligation to help the TEAM succeed while balancing work, family and personal achievements. It’s an ideal for which all leaders should strive. Thank You very much for your participation, Grant!
Me (unflattering I know) at the end of a 600 mile (960km), 6 day ride from Rapid City, SD to Gowrie, IA (my home town) in July 2014
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SHARING YOUR
PASSION WITH THE NEXT GENERATION by Zac Trolley, SSP 14 Project Engineer working in Western Canadian energy development
B
eing involved in space, in any capacity, has a certain mystery about it. There are certain social super powers you acquire; you can say “actually, it is rocket science” and get away with it. To the general public, space enthusiasts exist in a science wonderland that normal people don’t enter. When people find out I’m a huge space fan, that I would go to Mars at the first chance, and that I attended a Space University, they almost immediately have questions. I always take time to answer questions. I’ve been dreaming about stepping foot on Mars ever since Pathfinder landed in 1997. It’s been a long time coming, but space exploration is entering pop culture more and more and the public is engaged. I am so happy to get a chance to talk about my passion after so many years of no one really caring. This has been a mixed blessing, as it has also led me to understand just how little people know about our solar system. Many of the questions I’ve received from adults, simply put, have astounded me. Some examples
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include: “How can people land on Mars if there is no gravity in space?” “How many people have been on Mars so far?” “What will you do with your bank account when you are in space?” “Why don’t we have a space station like in the movie Gravity?” I do my best to answer every question I’m asked.
I’ve talked to family, friends and co-workers. I’ve done public talks at universities, schools, and science centres. I’ve fielded a lot of questions and dealt with a lot of misinformation. After a while, it can get tiresome. There is one group I absolutely love talking to, each and every time. It is a pleasure and joy to talk to children aged 10-15 years old. They are so full of life and to them anything is possible. They aren’t
as nervous to ask questions and they are endless knowledge sponges. I always get better questions from kids than I do from adults. When I talk to kids I see their eyes light up - when they understand what an orbit is, or when you tell them how far away Pluto really is, or how big Jupiter is, or how hot the surface of Venus is. They’ve read the books and seen the pictures, but hearing it from someone who they associate with space makes it real for them. Making that connection with them, making space real for them, is the most rewarding feeling I’ve ever felt. Educating children is how adults grow up knowing how gravity works and what planets people have stood on. With one hour of my time I can share my passion with a group of kids and hopefully that passion will rub off on a few of them. They may not grow up to be mega space nerds like me but they will have a much better understanding of the basics. If they are shown how cool space is at a young age, they will continue to learn on their own. They will pay attention to the news and politics surrounding space. They will understand how critical space is to modern life. As adults they will make decisions about space exploration and the industry that we can benefit from. The great thing about talking to kids is you only have to know more about space than a 12-year-old to look smart. Anyone who’s graduated from ISU is more than qualified to do it. I urge you to. Choose a topic you love to talk about. Get in touch with schools in your area. Ask them about coming into a classroom to talk about space. Share your experiences and passions with future bankers, politicians, engineers, doctors, policemen, and construction workers. If every ISU grad took a few days a year to talk to local kids about space, we wouldn’t have to live in a world where adults have no idea what’s going on above their heads. We all know that space exploration is a group effort. With our global network we can raise a generation of kids who understand and appreciate all that our universe can offer, and the effort being made to explore it. Photo: Char G Photography
http://char-g-photography.com/
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THE ISU BOARD OF TRUSTEES ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVE TRANSITION
by Our Outgoing Representative, Abdul M Ismail, MSS6 (2001)
CEO of Interplanetary Expeditions Ltd., a Liverpool, UK based consultancy that specialises in fluidised metal powder propulsion and brokers space technology & infrastructure to emerging space nations.
F
or well over a decade beginning in the 1990s, the ISU community was served by an “ISUNET” in the form of a daily e-digest, ISUNews and ISUTalk. Alums would post news about their companies, job openings, PhD opportunities, announcements for social gatherings, messages to inform then community what city they intended to visit in order to meet up in addition to a few more ‘colourful engagements’. It was simple yet effective. With the advent of social media and low traffic to the e-digests, this original Listserv system was closed down and was replaced by Connect2ISU, ISU’s official alumni database, circa 2012. This platform also had an option to opt-in to receive ISUNews and ISUTalk whereas in the past, alums used to be subscribed automatically. Unfortunately Connect2ISU wasn’t well advertised (e.g. as of late March 2016, only 212 out of a community of over 4000 subscribe to ISUNews) and that, coupled with the fact that many of the earlier generation alums don’t particularly use social media, has meant that interconnectivity between these alums that now occupy senior positions in the space sector and the new generation no longer exists. This observation/concern was relayed to the ISU Board of Trustees and during BOT52 last February (2015), Dr. Chris Sallaberger (ISU’88), Chairman of the Board of Trustees, tasked me to resolve the issue of lack of interconnectivity and present an ‘alumni engagement plan’. After consultation with the alumni organisations and national points of contact world-wide, I authored an article outlining the problem and a potential solution and subsequently invited alums to provide their input, which a few did. From feedback, it was clear that the most appropriate near-term solution was a monthly newsletter but with each correspondence, the list of subject matters became more extensive to the point where we were looking at a magazine; albeit quarterly until there is sufficient momentum to sustain a monthly magazine. While this magazine doesn’t fulfill the requirements of instantaneous 34
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
communication, it does strive to achieve what the current platform(s) doesn’t; cross-generational inclusivity. I recalled that Graham Weaver (ISU’90) used to edit a quarterly alumni magazine titled “Space Talk” before my time at ISU but since ISU is now intergenerational (i.e. the 4th “i”), it seemed apt to name this new effort “Space Talk: The Next Generation”. Without elaborating too much, I knew Graham had ‘a bit more time on his hands’ so I approached both him and Dr. Maria Perino (ISU’88), affectionately called “Mamma Maria”, to act as the magazine’s Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief, respectively. Since then, the team of Contributing Editors has grown steadily and currently includes Michael Laine, (SSP08), Tahir Merali (SSP08/ MSS09), Ruth McAvinia (SSP10), Tereza Pultarova (MSS12), Nikita Marwaha (SSP12/MSS13), Ryan Laird (SSP13), Remco Timmermans (SSP13), Mansoor Shar (MSS15), Kyle Acierno (MSS15) and Sarah Jewell (SSP14). Tihomir Dimitrov or ‘Tisho’ (SSP15) produced some stunning covers and interiors for the magazine. Of course, a magazine wouldn’t be possible without contributions and there have been some very high quality submissions from alums dating back to the early 1990s. I cordially request your assistance to distribute this e-magazine to as many alums as you can; via e-mail and social media. If you would like to submit articles, jobs, PhD studentships, announcements or inform the community which conferences you plan to attend, please contact Graham directly at editor@spacetalktng.news I hope you enjoy reading this first issue and that it constitutes the beginning of reconnecting the alumni community. I’d also like to take this opportunity to wish my successor – Julio Aprea – the best of luck for his tenure as alumni representative on the ISU Board of Trustees.
ALUMNI AFFAIRS
by Our Incoming Representative, Julio Aprea, MSS 05 Launchers Development Programme Support Officer, ESA
D
ear Fellow ISU Alumni,
I’m honoured to have been elected as Alumni Representative to the ISU Board of Trustees, I thank everyone who nominated, voted and put their trust in me. I would also like to thank Abdul Ismail for his hard work in this position and all the information he provided me for a seamless transition. I look forward to serve during my term and be useful to the alumni community.
My main responsibilities are: - To attend BoT meetings twice per year in Strasbourg - To coordinate with the ISU Alumni associations worldwide and bring their voice to these BoT meetings
magazine. I plan to come back in following issues with news from the meeting. In the meantime, taking into account the experience during the voting process and from feedback from alumni, I can see that it is not very straightforward for older alumni to interact with the ISU IT tools (Connect, Google Apps, etc). This in particular for alumni that left ISU before emails were transferred to the Google platform. Difficulty in communicating leads to alumni losing touch and disengaging from the community, I would like to streamline and improve communication channels, reconnect, and strengthen our network. This magazine is a first important step towards this goal. I would like to hear from the community with further ideas and the problems faced by the community.
- To actively promote ISU at events, presentations, etc. The very first BoT meeting I will attend takes place on February 3rd 2016, right between me writing this letter and the actual publication of the alumni
Please feel free to contact me via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/japrea
Thank You Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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by Graham Weaver ISU’90
JURASSIC
REUNIONS
EAA Ski Week 1996 in Sagnalonga, near Cesana, Italy Photo: Hermen Westerbeeke
A
brief history of Alumni Reunions from a European Perspective…
These days with access to technology like Facebook, Skype, Twitter, etc., etc. and plain old Email, we tend to take for granted the ability to keep in touch with one-another. In addition, low-cost airlines are almost ubiquitous meaning getting to a distant reunion is also “relatively” cheap. By contrast, in the early days of ISU things were very different. The Internet didn’t exist, commercial email was just beginning to spread (I got my first email account in 1992 and by the end of 1993 only 30% of
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European alumni had email) and low cost airlines didn’t start in Europe until 1995. So keeping in touch meant phonecalls or letters! Stone-age right? One other factor made reunions much more difficult – there just weren’t many of us! Initially the only major reunion was the Alumni Weekend of each Summer Session. These were free to attend and included the TrottiFest (Masquerade Party), Sunday
Brunch and sometimes a subsidised tour of the host city. These were organised by some of the ISU staff and the host alumni association and were very popular. In Europe, the formation of the European Alumni Association in April of 1989 was a starting point with a small printed quarterly newsletter (Space Talk) posted out to all European Alumni by ESA starting in May BELOW SAGA-8, Spring 1994 at the flat of Luca Ghislanzoni (ISU’90) FAR BELOW LAGA-2, September 1995 in a London Pizza Restaurant
ALUMNI AFFAIRS 1989. In early 1991, led by Maria Perino (ISU’88), we decided to combine our Annual General Meeting with a reunion over a whole week at a ski resort in the Alps and so the EAA Annual Ski Week was born. Through the 90’s this grew to the point where we took over a whole hotel with up to 70 people in attendance. To begin with our small numbers meant that there were few places with lots of alumni nearby, the most obvious in Europe being the ESA Technology Centre (ESTEC) near Amsterdam. In the Spring of 1992 alumni there started to organise quarterly meetings based around a presentation and a meal – the Seasonal Alumni Gatherings or SAGAs. These took hold and grew and the alumni there still have regular gatherings of 70 or more. In the UK John Jennings (ISU’90) and I tried a pub and meal format and – imitation being the sincerest form of flattery – we called our reunions London Alumni Gatherings or LAGAs. These began in May 1995 and grew too, with alumni often coming over from mainland Europe and even from the USA and Russia. Other cities held their own reunions and so there were TAGAs (Toronto), PAGAs (Paris), etc. Probably our best and biggest LAGAs back then were those graciously hosted by David Chambers (ISU’89) at his house in London – bring a bottle, £10 at the door to cover all the prepared food and you had 6+ hours of great food & drink and great company - wonderful! In the mid 2000’s the LAGAs almost died out but thanks to the efforts of Andrew Ball, Hermen Westerbeeke and Abdul Ismail, they survived and now we’ve achieved a LAGA-Reboot, reviving the quarterly format and most recently getting 35
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House LAGA, Summer 1997 Photo: Hermen Westerbeeke people at the Science Museum London to see the Russian Space exhibit.
Why does this all matter? We are lucky enough to belong to an amazing community; it’s a group of friends old and new that have all shared a the special ISU experience, it’s a unique source of cross-discipline, cross-continental experience to tap into and it’s a way to keep alive your interest in space if your career has taken you to other fields. But communities don’t stay together by themselves - it takes a little bit of effort! Today we have the
RECENT ALUMNI EVENTS
tools to make this so much easier than only 20 years ago…
So what do you say? Will you spare a few minutes to keep in touch with each other, not just the one or two classmates you keep in touch with, but across ISU classes, years and continents? Turn to our Connections section (page 44) and spend 2 minutes to send your email to your local contact point, join one of the Facebook ISU groups, or update your details on Connect2ISU. It’s easy, really! Or spend a little longer and reach out to alumni around you and organise a reunion? … then send me a photo of it to include in our future issues !!
In this section we’ll highlight recent alumni reunions and events, so if you’ve had a recent get together or other event, do please get in touch with a paragraph or two and a photo or two! Details on how to submit articles are given on the back cover. A special thanks to all those who’ve responded to the initial call for inputs, very much appreciated!
MONTREAL WEDDING Alexandra Kindrat, SSP10, MSS11 Several ISU alumni assembled at the wedding of Alexandra Kindrat (SSP 2010, MSS 2011) and Daniel Gonzalez, which took place in Montreal, Canada, on May 16, 2015.
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VANCOUVER REUNION
Perry Edmundson, SSP 05
Space Project Manager in the Space/Robotics Division at Ontario Drive & Gear Ltd., Ontario, Canada, building prototype lunar rovers for the Canadian Space Agency, as well as commercial terrestrial robotic vehicles. We held an ISU alumni and friends dinner in Vancouver, B.C., Canada on November 20th after the Canadian Space Society’s 2015 Summit. LEFT Clockwise from front left: Kenneth Lui The Planetary Society and Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Gary Chan University of Waterloo, Charles Nokes - University of Alberta, Matt Killick - ISU MSS’06, Kirk Richardson - University of Victoria, (unidentified), Zac Trolley ISU SSP’14, Daniel Hilbich - ISU SSP’12, Anne Wen - ISU SSP’14, Bruce Entus - ISU SSP’06, Perry Edmundson ISU SSP’05, Glynis Perrett - Cornell University, Liliana Barrios - ISU SSP’05, Ian Christensen - ISU SSP’07
ISU “SSP 2018” ALUMNI DINNER LEIDEN
by Remco Timmermans, SSP 13
Social Media Marketing Specialist and Owner at Seventy Media ISU SSP16 TP Chair and Social Media Lead
LEFT Featured from left to right: Ibiye Mtb Memberr (Nigeria/ United Kingdom, MSS 2011), Sid Saraf (Canada, SSP 2010), Fredolini The Astronaut Clown (Canada), Alexandra Kindrat (Bride, Canada, SSP 2010; MSS 2011), Lionel Le Mélinaidre (France, MSS 2011), Maëlle Zhang Le Mélinaidre (France, MSS 2010), & Rebeca Rodriguez (USA, MSS 2011).
Probably not known to many, one of the largest pockets of ISU alumni is located in the Leiden area in the Netherlands. With ESA-ESTEC and TU Delft just around the corner, well over 100 alumni are based here. In 2015 there were two very well attended ISU alumni dinners in Leiden. In February, over 80 alumni expressed their support to the Dutch bid for SSP 2018, during a site visit dinner with SSP Director John Connolly and the Dutch bid team. The dinner on the 10th November, with again almost 80 alumni and the Dutch bid team present, was to celebrate SSP 2018 in the Netherlands, after the Dutch bid was accepted by ISU in September! In the period ramping up to SSP 2018 in the Netherlands we will continue to organise alumni dinners, where alumni will have the opportunity to stay informed and involved with SSP 2018, network with each other and Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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show the value of our very close and active alumni network to the Dutch space industry. So if you move to the Netherlands, or come here frequently for business, please contact alumni coordinator (and former SSP Director) Juan de Dalmau (ISU’89) at ESTEC, to be added to the Dutch ISU alumni list. I am looking forward to seeing you at our next event! ABOVE SSP13 mini-reunion during ISU Alumni Dinner in Leiden, November 2015
SILICON VALLEY, USA Arif Göktuğ Karacalıoğlu, SSP10 & MSS14
Participant Liaison for SSP13 and SSP16. Researcher at NASA Ames Research Center and a member of the editorial teams of IAASS Space Safety Magazine and Space Frontier Foundation’s NewSpace News. ISU-SVAC also gathered together on the occasion of the premiere of “The Martian”, a story on space travel and habitation on Mars. The film alone grossed nearly $600 million at the box office, but its greatest legacy may be changing our understanding of what is scientifically accessible for humans in space. Before the screening, the group had the chance to meet and talk with the author Andy Weir.
ISU Silicon Valley Alumni Chapter (SVAC) gathered together at NASA Ames Research Center on the occasion of the live-casted premiere of “The Visit: An Alien Encounter”, a scientific documentary ISU was co-hosting with World Space Week. The film builds up a chillingly believable scenario of the first contact on Earth. After the screening, the group had discussions over some of the topics the movie brought up: Why are they visiting us? How do they think? What do they see in humans that we don’t see in ourselves? 40
IAC 2015, ISRAEL
Daniel Rockberger, MSC2006
Co Founder and COO of SkyFi. After 10 years in the traditional space industry in Israel (Israel AeroSpace Industry) Daniel has founded SkyFi, a startup company developing a unique communication system for satellites including an expandable Antenna and patented sub reflector able to change the coverage pattern on Earth while in orbit. Daniel has sent us a photo of the Israeli alumni who attended the IAC2015 conference held in October 2015 in Jerusalem, Israel.
RIGHT Israel has recognised space as a new realm for economical business and sustainability, and have added a space session the the prestigious Globes business convention. Here are the Israeli alumni whom attended.
LONDON ALUMNI GATHERING (LAGA) REBOOT September 2015
- Graham Weaver, ISU’90
We successfully rebooted the LAGAs with our traditional Pub & Pizza format‌
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December 2015
- Graham Weaver ISU’90 & David Chambers ISU’89
The Science Museum in London was holding an exhibition of Russian space hardware entitled “Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age” which contained the most significant collection of Russian spacecraft and artefacts ever to be shown in the UK, including: • • •
Vostok 6: the capsule flown by Valentina Tereshkova, the first ever woman in space Voskhod 1: the capsule used on the first mission to carry more than one crew member LK-3 Lunar Lander: a single cosmonaut craft built to compete with Apollo
We took the opportunity to schedule a LAGA in early December to coincide with this exhibit. Firstly, over 35 of us went as a group to the exhibition and then over 20 of us went for our usual Pizza meal. Attendees included Donald James, Associate Administrator for Education at NASA and the site director for SSP2009 at Ames, who happened to be in London that weekend! The next LAGA on June 11th! FAR LEFT Engineering Model of the one-man LK-3 Lunar Lander LEFT Russian Spacesuit and cosmonaut propulsion system (SPK) BELOW Lunokhod 1 Lunar Rover
LEFT / DOWN RIGHT After the Cosmonauts exhibit we went for a pizza…
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AN EXCLUSIVE TRAVEL INCENTIVE FOR ISU ALUMS by Abdul M Ismail, , MSS6 (2001) As with many alumni, I tend to travel a great deal. On more than one occasion, business trips had to be cancelled due to the sheer cost of flights/hotels and this is a prominent concern especially given the fact that face-to-face networking is an essential business practice in my line of work and in an ideal world, no event should be ignored. Minimizing expenses may not be of interest to large corporations; but such costs dictate whether or not a small business can continue to thrive or fizzle away into obscurity. In the past, I would typically shy away from employing the services of local businesses, especially since a great many online sites are known to be far more cost effective. It was 2010 and I found it problematic securing accommodation in close proximity to the convention centre and the Corinthia Prague was the most exclusive hotel within ten minutes’ walking distance from the conference hall but cost ~£1,100 (which in present day translates to 1,430€ or $1,560) for six nights. When I dropped by my local travel
agent I was surprised that he secured the same hotel for £480 (620€ or $680) for the same duration which translates to a cost saving of 56%. While this level of reduction was not always the case, I found that my colleague’s access to a special flight system as well as exclusive hotels, a major cost saving was always transparent. I took the liberty of talking to my colleague and asked if he was willing to offer a travel service for the ISU alumni community and not only did he agree, he mentioned he’d be willing to offer a 5% discount on all personal travel; which could apply for conferences as well as trips for friends and family. There is, however, an additional and more appealing incentive. This discount applies to everyone when travelling as a group – as long as at least one ISU alumnus accompanies the party. This offer is open to the 4000 strong alumni community; irrespective of nationality and further details can be found below.
C NNECTIONS
In this section we’ll highlight ways that you can use to keep in touch with the wider ISU community.
There are three main ways to keep in touch with the alumni community: • A network of Alumni Regional Contacts • Regional Facebook Groups • Connect2ISU Alumni Regional Contact Network & Facebook Groups Region
Alumni Contact SSP2002/ MSC2004
olufemi.arosanyin@ericsson.com
Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/ groups/41160815723/?fref=ts
Africa
Olufemi Arosanyin
Arabian Gulf States
Dr. Saeed Al-Dhaheri
Australasia
George Dyke
SSP2002
george@georgedyke.com
Austrian Space Forum (OeWF)
Dr. Gernot Groemer
SSP1997
gernot.groemer@oewf.org
Canada
Amir Komeily
SSP2007
amir.komeily@comdev.ca
China
Zhe Hu (胡哲)
SSP2005/ MSC2006
hupxjy@126.com
France
Nicolas Chuecos
SSP2014
nchuecos@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISU.France/
Germany
Ryan Laird
SSP2013
ryan.laird@community.isunet.edu
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/214940778529000/?fref=ts
Greece
Dr. Adrianos Golemis
MSC2013
adriangolemis@outlook.com
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/561814420533121/?fref=ts
Netherlands
Dr. Juan de Dalmau
SSP1989
Juan.de.Dalmau@esa.int
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/139968992705753/?fref=ts
Isle of Man
Simon Clucas
SSP2002
snclucas@gmail.com
Israel
Daniel Rockberger
MSC2006
danielrockberger@yahoo.co.uk
Italy
Dr. Maria Antonietta Perino
Japan
ISU’88
ddsaeed@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ozisualumni/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ caisu/?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISU.Israel/?fref=ts
ISU’88
mariaantonietta.perino@ thalesaleniaspace.com
Maruyama Kenta
SSP2007
maruyama.kenta@jaxa.jp
https://www.facebook.com/groups/
Latin America
Eric Villard
MSS2002
er.villard@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISULatinAmerica/?fref=ts
Poland
Dr. Damian Maria BielickI
SSP2009
dmbielicki@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISU.Poland/
Spain
Xavier Alabart
MSC2007
xavier.alabart@aetherconsulting.net
Russia
Tigran Shahverdyan
SSP2012
tigran.shahverdyan@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/383259485072653/?fref=ts
Scandinavia
Katarina Eriksson
MSC2010
katarina.eriksson@community.isunet. edu
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISU.Nordic.Alumni/?fref=ts
Turkey
Dr. Ozgur Gurtuna
MSS1999
gurtuna@turquoisetech.com
United Kingdom
Graham Weaver
United States
Joshua Nelson
Washington DC Silicon Valley
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graham.weaver@btinternet.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ ISU.UK.Alumni/?fref=ts
SSP2009
joshua.nelson@isunet.edu
https://www.facebook.com/ groups/6473216389/?fref=ts
Angela Peura
SSP2007
angela.peura@gmail.com
Arif Göktuğ Karacalıoğlu
SSP2010
arif.g.karacalioglu@nasa.gov
ISU’90
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
Connect2ISU Since the demise of the ISUTalk and ISUNews email lists, Connect2ISU is ISU’s main way to keep in touch with its alumni. All alumni are given a profile on Connect2ISU but it relies on alumni taking the time to keep their contact information up to date. This is now easier than it was with more immediate IT support through a HelpDesk contact. So do please consider updating your contact information and I suggest joining the ISUNews Group so that you can be easily really reached, not just by ISU but also by your classmates and yes, us at the magazine. Just go to: https://connect.isunet.edu/ or via Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/isuspacecommunity/ On the Login page you’ll find links to get your Username & Password or to email IT support.
What does Connect2ISU offer? From the ISU website: - An Alumni Directory with an easy search of ISU alumni - Updates of your profile anytime you need - Privacy options: you will be able to decide who you wish to share your information with - Creation of single and/or group profiles - A place to share your videos, photos and projects - Event management: you wish to share a space or ISU related event, Connect2ISU will allow you to advertise an event. You will either be able to extend the invitation to the ISU global community or to restricted group(s) of your choice. - Discussion forums: this new service will replace the ISUTalk and ISUNews services by giving you the opportunity to continue sharing news and experiences on Connect2ISU. Join the group ISU News!
Community Email More recently ISU has begun allocating an ISU community email address to each programme participant, in the format firstname.lastname@community.isunet.edu”. These can be retained after graduation and, I understand, they can also be made available to alumni of earlier years upon request – although I’ve seen no clear information from ISU on this. One advantage of this is that as personal emails change over time, this can remain unchanged…
Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
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Writing for Space Talk : The NEXT Generation
Subject Matter Articles can be on any subject you’d like to write about - but should, in general, be related to Space, ISU or your current work (whether Space related or not). Of particular interest would be articles on recent alumni reunions/events or planned events.
Article Requirements • Article size is not fixed – various sizes can be accommodated depending on the subject matter. Potential authors are recommended to discuss this with the Managing Editor at editor@spacetalk-tng.news • Text should be submitted as an MS Word document and use UK English • Articles should be accompanied by the author’s bio photo, their ISU course & year and a one sentence bio text • Authors are strongly encouraged to submit photos with their articles wherever appropriate as this can greatly enhance the overall look • Photos should be in JPG or PNG format (if you use transparency) and be as high a resolution as possible but file size should no exceed 10Mb. • Every photo should be accompanied by a short caption text
The deadline for the next issue is June 20th.
CONTACT US For all questions, comments and article submission, you can contact us at: editor@spacetalk-tng.news If you prefer us to email the magazine directly to you then you can also send your email to us at the above address.
Artist’s impression of how Mars may have looked four billion years ago Image credit: NASA, Wikipedia