Busy summer for Space education in Australia

This summer is shaping up to be very busy for space education in Australia, particularly in Adelaide.

The International Space University and University of South Australia have been busy hosting the Southern Hemisphere Southern Space Program - in its second year this year. The Program runs until the 11th of February, and features a host of top space lecturers from around the world.

The program covers a broad spectrum of space topics, and was developed by the University of South Australia and the International Space University with support from Australian Space Research Program funding. This year's program features 35 students from Russia, Australia, India, South Africa, Nepal, USA, Poland, Brazil, China, Spain, Nigeria and New Zealand. The program also sees the students develop an extensive white paper on a contemporary and important space issue. For more information, head here.

Across town, the AIAA chapter at the Adelaide University has been hosting the ISSET Mission Discovery Summer School which allows students to work with Astronauts, Astronaut trainers, rocket scientists and NASA leaders. For more information head over to the webpage here, or checkout the Adelaide University AIAA  facebook page here.

Both of these events have seen a number of Astronauts and global space leaders in Adelaide for the week, with some wonderful free public events on offer. Speaking of which, the 25th of January will see the final Space Panel event as part of the SH-SSP program as follows.

 Australia's Future in Space 

 Wednesday, 25 January 2012 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm 

 The Mawson Centre, University of South Australia Mawson Lakes Campus 

 This distinguished panel of key officials and space policy experts will discuss the recent history, current status, and future direction of the Australian space program. The panel will be led by Professor Andrew Parfitt, Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of South Australia and will include Australian experts including Mr. Brett Biddington, Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia, Mr David Hudson of Geoscience Australia and Mr. John Teager of Defence SA.

For more info, head here.

Beyond this, February will see DLR and RMIT team up to hold a 4-day Remote Sensing summer school. For more information, you can take a look at my previous article on the summer school here.

The busy summer is another sign that the Australian Space industry is on the up and up, and no doubt such wonderful educational events will put in place the brains trust to lead the industry for many years to come.

Australia steps back onto the global space policy stage

Australia has stepped back onto the global space policy stage, backing the EU plan for an international code of conduct for outer space activities.

The code of conduct is aimed at both minimising and reducing 'space junk' or space debris, which poses a long-term threat to space infrastructure that is vital to most developed nations, including Australia.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said:  "Everything from aircraft and ship navigation, to electronic commerce, communications, climate monitoring and disaster management, not to mention many of our defence systems, all rely on satellites. But all that's being put at risk by the growing possibility of collisions with satellites and space vehicles."

The code of conduct was drafted by the EU, and has the support of the United States, Japan, Canada and Australia, although the United States has suggested that it will not include its military space activities under the code of conduct. Space debris poses a major risk to operational satellites, and is of particular concern to human space flight activities.

Australia has now become actively involved in the negotiations on the code of conduct, in a sign that Australia has once again become actively been involved in global space policy issues, mirroring the recent upsurge in Space activities in Australia.

ISU Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program Kicks-Off again in Adelaide

The 2012 ISU/UniSA Southern Hemisphere Summer Space Program kicked off in Adelaide on the 9th of January. The Program runs until the 11th of February, and features a host of top space lectures from around the world. The program covers a broad spectrum of space topics, and was developed by the University of South Australia and the International Space University with support from Australian Space Research Program funding.

This year's program will feature 35 students from Russia, Australia, India, South Africa, Nepal, USA, Poland, Brazil, China, Spain, Nigeria and New Zealand. The program also sees the students develop an extensive white paper on a contemporary and important space issue. The 2011 paper is an interesting read - head over here if you want to have a look.

In conjunction with the SH-SSP, several public events are being held in Adelaide over the coming weeks, and I encourage you to get down if you can, as there is a good line up of speakers on offer. The events include:

Tuesday 17 January 2012 - International Astronaut Panel

Time: 6.00 - 7.30 pm, followed by refreshments

Venue: Allan Scott Auditorium, City West Campus, UniSA

The Astronaut Panel is a long-standing highlight of ISU programs and its objective is to give the program participants and the general public a direct opportunity to ask a broad range of questions to a number of astronauts. This year's panel will comprise astronauts Jean-Jacques Favier of France, Soyeon Yi of South Korea and Ken Ham and Scott Kelly from the United States. The panel will be moderated by Professor Scott Madry of the International Space University.

Wednesday 25 January 2012 - Public Panel: Australia's Future in Space

Time: 6.00 - 7.30 pm, followed by refreshments

Venue: MC1-02, The Mawson Centre, Mawson Lakes

This distinguished panel of key officials and space policy experts will discuss the recent history, current status, and future direction of the Australian space program. The panel will be led by Professor Andrew Parfitt, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Australia and will include Australian experts Dr Rosalind Dubs of the Space Innovation Advisory Council, Brett Biddington, Chair of the Space Industry Association of Australia, David Hudson of Geoscience Australia and John Teager of Defence SA. Sponsored by Geoscience Australia

If you are interested in attending any of these events or want further information, email iteeevents@unisa.edu.au 

For those who are interested in further information on the SH-SSP, head over to the University of South Australia's webpage here, or for up to date information head over to the SH-SSP facebook page here.

Good luck to all of those students on this year's program - I look forward to hearing about your progress and reading your White Paper when it is available.

SKA decision near as rumours grow

The location of one of the worlds greatest science facilities, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is expected to be announced in February 2012. Currently, the two competing sites include an Australian/NZ consortium, against a Southern African consortium. The competition has been long, with both consortia receiving strong support from their governments to win the €1.5 billion facility.

 In recent days, the internet has been awash with rumours that a possible win-win outcome might be being discussed behind closed doors. In such a scenario, each consortium might receive a part of the SKA facility (or a smaller facility each), potentially targeting different parts of the overall frequency range that the SKA was intending to target. Whist such an outcome could be a good political solution, it is likely to multiple the costs of the total SKA facilities, particularly as the infrastructure costs would be almost doubled.

 Whilst no official statements have been made to suggest that a compromise solution may be being discussed, both consortia have been lobbying hard, and have spent significant funding on pre-cursor telescope facilities to demonstrate their capability.

It is understood that no proposals have yet been made for two facilities split across different sites. Whilst it could be possible, a significant amount of work would likely be required, and further negotiations would be needed, delaying an inevitable decision.

I have my fingers firmly crossed for an Australian site selection, but keep your eyes peeled to see what will happen over the next few weeks. There may be surprises yet to come.

DLR and RMIT team up to host 4 day Remote Sensing Summer School

RMIT will team up with the German Space Agency (DLR) to host the Remote Sensing Summer School in February 2012 (13th - 16th).

The summer school will cover a variety of Remote Sensing Topics including:

• Introduction in developing image processing algorithms 
• Photogrammetry 
• GIS products and applications » airborne and space based remote sensing platform technology 
• Space system engineering 
• Thermal and LiDar applications for airborne systems 
• Commercial and defence surveillance capabilities 
• Application for fire monitoring and detection from UAV to satellite

The School will be presented by two of Germany's leading Remote Sensing experts, Dr Andreas Eckard and Mr Frank Lehman.

For more information, head over to the flyer on the space.gov.au website here, or email Dr Peter Moar at RMIT:  peter.moar@rmit.edu.au