Program Details

The 5-week program is structured around the following components, with a total estimated minimum time dedication of 200 hours:

• 42 core lectures,1 hour each in weeks 1, 2 and 3
• 60 contact hours of workshops, public events, professional visits and a field exercise
• 45 contact hours for the White Paper group research project
• 53 hours for independent work

Additional informal evening activities will include culture nights with presentations by students about their nations and cultures, and space movie nights 

Lecture Topics

Lecture topic may include but not limited to:

Workshops and Professional Visits

Several professional visits and a series of 3-hour hands-on workshops will be held during the program. Workshops are linked with lectures, hands-on activities using local remote sensing data, telecommunications, GPS field exercises, collecting satellite data, policy and commercial workshops, professional skills development and other topics.

Past workshops have covered the following:

• Team Building
• Planetarium Visit
• Satellite Tool Kit Workshop
• Crisis Communication
• Space Tourism
• Hands-on GIS Activity
• Remote Sensing Workshop
• Commercial and Regulatory Issues in Space Launches
• Space Medicine
• GPS Workshop
• RS/GPS Field Trip
• Satellite Communication and Earth Stations
• Commercial Satellites Workshop
• Presenting Space History and Heritage
• Writing and Presenting Skills: Guidelines and Requirements
• Space Public Outreach
• Space Entrepreneurship

Public Events

Each program involves a series of major space events. International leaders and experts are invited to speak on contemporary issues in the space sector. The objective is to give the participants and members of the general public a direct opportunity to ask a broad range of questions to a number of astronauts in an interactive mode.

White Paper Research Project

Each year the Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program will focus on a particular theme or application area relevant to the southern hemisphere. Assisted by faculty and invited international experts, students will research the theme and jointly author a White Paper which will be shared with interested organizations and agencies and presented at international conferences.

With the assistance of Faculty, staff and advisors, students will:

• Identify a feasible scope for the project and devise a team organization and work plan.
• Review previous ISU Team Projects and identify any materials or references relevant to this project.
• Research and evaluate the current status of southern hemisphere space activities and programs and the activities of international organizations and associations such as the United Nations, the World Meteorological Organization, the Group on Earth Observations, the International Telecommunication Union, and the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites that touch upon southern hemisphere space activities.

Independent Work

The deliverables will be:

• A presentation of findings in a live presentation to the Faculty, staff, and invited guests at the end of the program. The presentation will be webcast.
• A final written report of findings and recommendations
• An executive summary of the project report that will be suitable for dissemination among the international space community
• A poster and flyer suitable for presentation at an international conference and for use by the students after the session in their own countries.
• Preparation for the written examination, to be taken in week 4 and;
• Research and writing of the White Paper, to be presented in week 5.