National Space Awareness Workshop 2010

Hosted by the Canadian Alumni of the International Space University, the NSAW 2010 workshop will take place next Friday, November 19th 2010 in Ottawa, Ontario. Register to secure your spot today. See poster below:

NSAW 2010 Poster

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Astronaut Takes Flag To Outer Space To Commemorate The Ilan Ramon Scholarship Project

As posted to http://www.Space-Travel.com

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Astronaut_Takes_Flag_To_Outer_Space_To_Commemorate_The_Ilan_Ramon_Scholarship_Project_999.html

Astronaut Takes Flag To Outer Space To Commemorate The Ilan Ramon Scholarship Project
by Staff Writers
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 11, 2010

ilan-ramon-scholarship-flag-lg (From http://www.Space-Travel.com)

Astronaut Garret Reisman who will be flying on board Shuttle
Atlantis STS-132 on May 14th will be taking a flag commemorating
Israel’s first astronaut Ilan Ramon and the scholarship fund established in his honor.

The International Space University, will hold its 2010 Summer Space
Studies Program in Strasbourg, France.

As part of an annual campaign to identify and assist in funding three
exceptional Israeli graduate students, Michael Potter, former member
of the International Space University (ISU), Board of Trustees, has
announced a matching scholarship endowment fund. The International
Space University, will hold its 2010 Summer Space Studies Program in
Strasbourg, France.

According to Potter, “This is a historic opportunity to achieve an
international impact with a few select, but very talented Israeli
graduate students. Israel intends to play a growing role in the global
leadership and the development of space technologies and activities.”

A Campaign to Select Exceptional Israeli Graduate Students for the
International Space University Daniel Rockberger the founder of the
Ramon Scholarship selection committee based in Tel Aviv, points out:,
“We are committed to ensuring that the International Space University
continues to serve an important impact on securing Israel’s role on
the international stage and particularly in the area of space
development and cooperation.”

Ilan Ramon Scholarship Project and Vision 2015

Over the next five years we will seek to identify a minimum of 15
world-class students to participate in the two month Space Studies
Program organized by ISU. This program is held every summer in
different countries and locations around the globe.

The scholarship was established to honor the memory of the first
Israeli astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, who died while courageously
exploring the final frontier of space. Ramon made the ultimate
sacrifice while living his commitment to space and to international
cooperation amongst the nations of the Earth.

The purpose of the scholarships is to attract talented young Israeli
students with backgrounds in technology, science, medicine and other
disciplines, allowing them to continue their pursuit of knowledge on
the international stage. At ISU, they will join with academic,
government, and industry colleagues from around the world who
recognize the promise of space exploration, development, and
technology to advance and improve both life on Earth and beyond.

This scholarship program is a commitment to creating the building
blocks that are necessary for Israel to establish a leadership
position in the global space community and marketplace.

ISU, with a central campus in Strasbourg, France, provides
graduate-level interdisciplinary training to the future leaders of the
world’s space efforts. Since its inception in 1987, more than 2,900
students from more than 100 countries have graduated from ISU’s
two-month Space Studies Program and its one-year Master of Space
Studies Program. The 2006 Summer Session was held in Strasbourg,
France.

The Summer 2007 Session was held in Beijing China. The program for
2008 was held in Barcelona, Spain, the 2009 program was held at the
NASA Ames Research center in Silicon Valley, California, and the
upcoming 2010 program will be held in Strasbourg, France from 28 June
to 27 August 2010.

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Astronaut_Takes_Flag_To_Outer_Space_To_Commemorate_The_Ilan_Ramon_Scholarship_Project_999.html

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Canadian Astronaut to return to Earth after 6-months

Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk leaves the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-15 on December 1st @ 1950 EST and land in Kazakhstan at 0216 EST (Source: Canadian Space Agency). Joining him will be ESA Astronaut Frank DeWinne and Cosmonaut Roman Romanenko which officially ends Expedition 20 & 21.

Dr. Gilles Clement, PI of the CSA/ISU Image Reversal In Space (IRIS) experiment will be in Russia to greet Dr. Thirsk when he returns, debrief him on his flight and conduct some post-flight data collection and interviews about IRIS to get some conclusive data with which the IRIS team can analyze.

The landing can be watched via the CSA’s website – www.asc-csa.gc.ca followed by interviews with the astronauts. Safe returns home, my friends!

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LIVE Blogging from IAC2009 – Daejeon, S. Korea! Oct 12-16th 2009

Hello Readers!

I will be attending the International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. This Congress is the largest space conference on Planet Earth, and thank you to the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Learning and Awareness Department, I am traveling to present my work including:

1. Space & Television: Is There A Reason? – Study on the use of space in television commercial advertising – E5.2.5 – Space & Society Symposium – Wednesday, Oct 14th 2009 @ 1500 hrs

2. Iris – Image Reversal In Space ISU Student ISS experiment – On behalf of the Iris team, I will be presenting our work and findings over other past 16 months – International Student Zone Canadian Space Agency – Wednesday, October 14th 2009 @ ~ 1400-1420 hrs

If you are also attending, I would love to meet up and see you there! Please come out to attend the presentations as well as the other cutting-edge research and developments in the Space industry.

For more information on the IAC 2009 – please see http://www.iac2009.kr

I will be blogging live from various panels and events, including the Heads of Agencies Plenary – where 6-7 Presidents of the world’s space agencies speak and present their agencies’ progress and plans. NASA (US), CSA (Canada), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), CNSA (China), ROSCOMOS (Russia), ISRO (India) will all be in attendance. Schedule to be posted in due course.

Ad Astra for now!

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1st Canadian Space Tourist – ISU Classmate quoted

The launch of the 1st Canadian spaceflight participant occurred early this morning from Kazakhstan.

This report, by The Canadian Press, featured an interview with Mario Ciaramicoli, fellow ISU graduate!

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090929/science/science_cda_space_tourist

Well done, Mario!

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Iris 2nd ISS In-flight session and official operations complete!

Message sent to Dr. Thirsk part of the daily summary that POIC (Payload Operations Integration Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center) sent to the ISS crew Thursday 24th 2009. (Courtesy: Gilles Clement)

“The PI and IRIS team appreciate your feedback which gives good insight into IRIS operations to ISU students. This payload has been a great experience in concept, design, implementation and operations. With good data for two successful sessions, IRIS is considered successful and complete with no expected need for troubleshooting or additional sessions. Again, many thanks!”

Congratulations to all ISU students, faculty, ground operations crews @ NASA, CSA and all those who had the fortunate to participate with the Iris experiment in one capacity or another.

Mission Success!

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ISU Article in Space Generation Advisory Council Newsletter

Written by classmate Francois Bulens (Belgium) on pg. 6!

http://www.spacegeneration.org/files/downloads/newsletter/September_2009/SGAC_Newsletter_September.pdf

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A Master at last!

Three weeks has passed and sporadic posting has ensued.

Lets recap!

August 14-22

Travels to San Francisco, NASA Ames, Las Vegas and Monterey Bay.

Brought in as guest expert for the ISU Space Studies Program 2009 @ NASA Ames to assist with Team Project Access Mars – the use of martian caves as potential spaces for human habitats .

Tahir @ NASA Ames Research Center - Mountain View, California, USA

Travelled around SFO and Monterey Bay – even managed to sneak off to Las Vegas for some entertainment!

Las Vegas!!!

August 23-27

Masters’09 Final Presentations

Each student attended an internship this summer – somewhere around the world – statistics include:

Masters09 Internship Split

August 28-30

With no more academic commitments I dashed off to Paris to pick up my Mom who has come for graduation.

August 31

Masters 09 Class Graduation – 49 M.Sc granted

Finally, an M.Sc in Space Management – yehhaww!

Master!

A huge accomplishment for all 49 graduates of the 2009 M.Sc ISU program. For me, this is indeed a time I have waited for many years, having first heard about ISU in 1999 from my junior high teacher. 10 years later, with the guidance of many including Chris Hadfield and Eric Choi, my adventure took my to the far reaches of the world – physically and emotionally – connecting with people all over the world working towards the same objective – space and space for the people. Thank you to all those who have supported me throughout my experience – its been my pleasure to have shared this experience here with you via Terra++.

Farewell, ISU!

Sept 1 – Sept 8

Baden- Baden, Interlaken & Swiss Alps, Geneva, Cote D’Azur

Baden Baden Spa

Tahir in the Swiss Alps

Monte Carlo in style!

Sept 8 – Sept 10

London, England

Sept 10

A return, indefinitely till the job search pans out, to my home in Calgary.

A HUGE thank you to all of you readers who have followed my ISU journey over 15 months ago – I’ve received comments from all over the world, young and old, and with 5000 hits strong, I assure you this is only the beginning.

As for whats next for Terra++? You tell me! Suggestions are welcome, and your feedback most appreciate for this, my first blogging experience.

A good old cheers, and Howdy, as I land back in to Calgary.

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ISU Press Release Sept. 1st 2009 – Space University’s Experiment Flies in Space!

STRASBOURG, FRANCE – Students of the International Space University (ISU) have for the first time successfully conducted an experiment of their making on the International Space Station (ISS). Dr. Robert (Bob) Thirsk, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut currently resident on the ISS, played an integral part in the experiment.

“Bob suggested the idea to bring a student experiment on board the ISS”, said Dr. Walter Peeters, Dean of ISU who was also previously involved in astronaut operations at the European Space Agency (ESA). Thirsk has a long-standing relation with ISU as a lecturer; as someone with degrees in medicine, engineering and management, he epitomizes the blend of disciplines that are celebrated and embraced at ISU, the ‘gold standard’ in interdisciplinary space education. The experiment in cognitive neuroscience, called IRIS (Images Reversal in Space), was designed, developed and tested by ISU students as part of their Masters degree curriculum. Based on a concept by Dr. Gilles Clement, now a professor at ISU, IRIS only requires the use of one ISS laptop computer and one dedicated CD including all the software needed for the test.

“Developing an experiment for the ISS in less than one year was quite a challenge” said Dr. Clement, “but it was an extraordinary opportunity and everyone was extremely motivated. The experiment is a nice complement to current space research on the effect of gravity on threedimensional visual perception. In addition of being a learning experience on how to fly a human physiology experiment in space, it could possibly provide original data that will inspire future research.”

With the help of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the software and procedures were space-qualified and sent to the ISS via the Space Shuttle. Ground based data were collected on Bob Thirsk at NASA in Houston prior to his flight, for comparison with data collected on board the ISS. The students also performed extensive measurements on the ground and in reduced gravity during one ESA parabolic flight campaign.

The experiment was successfully executed for the first time on board the ISS on 13 July 2009 and the data were transmitted to the ground for analysis. Another in-flight test session is scheduled in October. Preliminary results show that there are less perception reversals in space, suggesting that the perception of three-dimensional ambiguous figures is more stable in space than on the ground. This result confirms that visual perception of ambiguous figures, like other cognitive processes, is less efficient when gravity “gets in the way” on Earth.

During his stay on board the ISS, Thirsk also conducted a lecture via video link with the ISU students on 16 August 2009, as an ideal complement to the ISU curriculum on space physiology and medicine. In his presentation to the students, Thirsk performed an evaluation of the aRED (advanced Resistive Exercise Device), a high tech exercise machine aimed at counteracting muscle atrophy and bone demineralization caused by prolonged exposure to weightlessness. The interaction of both the IRIS and aRED experiments with its students is a further indicator of ISU’s increasing emphasis on Space Life Sciences in its curriculum.

ISU is a graduate school offering a unique core curriculum covering all disciplines related to space programs and enterprises – space and earth sciences, engineering, satellite applications, policy and law, business and management, and space and society. ISU also provides short courses for professional development and life-long
learning.

Since its founding on the campus of MIT in 1987, with noted author and visionary Sir Arthur C. Clarke as its first Chancellor, ISU has graduated more than 2900 students from 100 countries, many now in senior positions with commercial and government space-related organizations throughout the globe.

For more information on ISU’s programs and activities: http://www.isunet.edu

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Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk addresses ISU with ARED on ISS

Canadian Astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk addresses ISU while using the Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) aboard the International Space Station.

ftp://ftp.asc-csa.gc.ca/users/expedition20-21/pub/videos/inflight/090722_expedition20-21_ared_isu.wmv

(Best viewed with Windows Media Player)

Courtesy of Dr. Gilles Clement (ISU) and the Canadian Space Agency Communications Department.

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