no 6 july 2004 - esa · no 6 july 2004 page 12-13 students in kourou yes2 ... on the theme “outer...

http://www.esa.int/educationSpace Girls

European Space Agency’sNewsletter on Education

No 6 July 2004

page 12-13

Students in Kourou

YES2Workforce of the future

page 6-7

page 4

page 8-9

EDUnews6_July21 7/22/04 10:57 AM

EDUnews No 6 July 2004

EditorialThe disaffection of youth in science and engineering

studies is a reality that might affect the social and

economic growth of Europe in the near future. It

worries national authorities as well as European

institutions. This is why the European Commission

has set up the High-Level working group on

Human Resources for Science and Technology.

The working group, while highlighting the importance of promoting the excellence

of scientific and technological human capital in Europe, also recognises the need for

an increase of human resources in science and technology.

ESA agrees with the conclusions of the working group, in particular with the need

to encourage and stimulate youngsters – especially girls – to prepare for a career in

science and technology. We also believe that young people need to be encouraged

and appropriately trained from the beginning of their studies. That is why ESA’s

education activities, very often involving teachers directly, have always been devot-

ed to students of all ages, from primary schools to graduate and postgraduate.

With the recent strengthening of ESA’s educational service by creating an

“Education Department”, future educational activities will benefit from an

improved organisation. The objective is to respond in the most efficient way to the

needs of all those directly involved in education and taking into account the require-

ments of the national curricula and educational systems. ESA is committed to sup-

port the needs and practices of the world of education. However, we can only be

successful with the help of all those involved.

Since the beginning of 2002 EDUnews has kept you informed not only about ESA’s

but also European and international educational activities. I hope you will enjoy

reading this sixth issue – this one is mainly dedicated to education activities for

University students.

Thank you for your interest!

Roger Elaerts

Editorial 2

Life in Space 2004’: course for students 3Science Fiction and Essay Writing Contest 3

Students win trip to Kourou 4First Danish student space workshop 4

Students from developing countries participate in the 54th IAC 5

The 2nd Young Engineers’ Satellite 6

Building the workforce of the future 8

Star biographies in the Alps 9

Tele-education projects by ESA Telecom Applications 10

Space Girls’ Day 12

Pictures from Madrid 14

Lessons for Young Space Cadets 15What is ESA? 15

What’s coming up 16

Contents

2

EDUnews is read inmany different Europeancountries. From time totime we present generaland space-related activi-

ties in ESA MemberStates to provide an in-depth view of “space in

your backyard” andpoints of contact.

If you’d like to writeabout what’s going on in

your country, please send an email to

[email protected]


3

‘Life in Space 2004’: course for studentsThirty-five European Life Sciences studentswill get the opportunity to follow a two-weekcourse in the Arago Laboratory in Banyuls,France, from 6 to 17 September this year.

With the building of the International SpaceStation and the development of planetarymissions (in particular to Mars) new opportu-nities arise in the field of life sciences. Thesechallenges also rely on cooperation atEuropean and worldwide levels and an ade-quate education of life science specialists inthe space environment.

This is already the third time that ESA sup-ports the ‘Life in Space’ programme. TheERASMUS-supported course is carried out incollaboration with five European universities,namely University Pierre et Marie Curie ParisVI, France; University of Bonn, Germany;University of Sassari, Italy; University ofNottingham, UK and Autonomous Universityof Madrid, Spain. As the major non-academicpartner, ESA will contribute expertise byorganising three lectures by ESA experts and

a meeting with an ESA astronaut during an e-learning session.

Students attend lectureson different aspects ofmicrogravity and itsinfluence on the body.During the two weeks,they also create theirown life-science experi-ments, practicing notonly real science but alsowork in a team.

Erratum: The article in EDUnews 5, page 4, Life science students learn about "Life in Space" was not written by the coordinator Marie Diop but by the following students:André Blondiau and Bernhard Wulffen, University of Bonn, Germany; Clémence Chatreau, University Pierre et Marie Curie Paris VI, France; Carmen García Roch and MaiteLaredo Varala, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain; Hayder Guler, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.


Caroline Pujol

ESA (MSM-GS)

ESA astronaut Pedro Duqueconducting a Life Science

experiment during the“Cervantes” mission to the ISS

International Science Fiction and Essay Writing Contest

“Space in our lives”. The winners areCharlotte Monteil from France (1st prize),Benedict Alois Martin from Austria (2ndprize) and Tor Gaute Syrstad from Norway(3rd prize). The special prize for developingcountries was awarded to Paul SherwinTarnate from the Philippines.

As there was such an overwhelming responsefrom the younger age group, the organisersdecided that next year’s competitions will beoriented towards the age 11 to 13 years and14 to 16 years. It will be an InternationalEssay Competition with the title “From Earthto Planet X in an adjacent Solar System”.Details will be available on the EURISYwebsite in September 2004.

EURISY, UNESCO, ESA and the NorwegianSpace Centre have had a lot of response totheir two competitions they organised forsecondary school pupils worldwide.

The first contest was an International ScienceFiction Writing Contest for 16 to 19-year-oldson the theme “Outer Space”. The two winnersare Marc Metziger from France with “Beyond”and Dewi Harjanto from the United Stateswith “Natural Beef”. They win a visit to theSpace Camp in Norway. The special prize fordeveloping countries was awarded to ChristinaImera Bendeliani from Georgia with “Dream”.

For 11 to 15-year-olds there was anInternational Essay Contest with the theme


A large group of students and young profes-sionals visited the European Spaceport inKourou, French Guiana, this year – some ofthem even watched a real rocket launch! Twogroups took the trip to South America: one at

the end of February and one inmid-March 2004.

The participants were eitherwinners of the 1st Aurora StudentDesign Contest or selected stu-dents from partner organisationssuch as International SpaceUniversity. Sponsored by ESA’sEducation Office and the Aurora

Programme, the visits were co-sponsored bythe ESA’s Directorate of Launchers, CNESand Arianespace. A small group of young pro-fessionals who joined the groups werefinanced by their own organisations.

They were all taken on a tour of the Arianelaunching and propulsion facilities and metmanagers who answered all their questions.The trip included a visit to interesting localand natural sights. For the first group, cer-tainly the most exciting part of the trip wasthe unexpected possibility to see a launch!The lift-off of the Ariane carrying the Rosettaprobe is something they will never forget.

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Students win trip to Kourou

Micaela Bracciaferri

ESA EducationDepartment

For more information:http://www.esa.int/aurora


First Danish student space workshop a successMore than 50 students of nine differentnationalities met in Copenhagen on the lastweekend of March 2004 to share ideas andknowledge about space education and space

activities in general.Organised by theDanish AstronauticalSociety, the workshopsaw the contributionof experts from the European SpaceAgency, NASA, theDanish and Europeanspace industries andresearch institutions.

The theme of the workshop was “Going toMars”. Students participated actively in theworkshop sessions and panel discussions. Thedifferent working groups focused on spacemedicine, planetary exploration and smallsatellite technologies respectively. They alsoworked at an interdisciplinary level.

The workshop had the dual- positive effect ofbringing together students with experts andstudents with each other. All participants willbenefit from the new network by exchangingideas and projects. The second DanishStudent Space Workshop is planned to takeplace at the end of 2005.

For more information:http://www.rumfart.dk/workshop

[email protected]

Lars Alminde

Danish AstronauticalSociety

SMART-1 project scientist Bernard Foing (left) andthe attitude control and determination group of thenext Danish student satellite: AAUSAT-II


5

Students from developing countriesparticipate in the 54th

International Astronautical CongressAt the International Astronautical Congress(IAC) 2003 in Bremen, Germany, the annualStudent Participation Programme featured anovelty. For the first time, students fromdeveloping countries were given the opportu-nity to join the 300 European students intheir trip to the IAC. They attended a specially-organised UN/IAF Workshop aswell as the Congress itself to meet the expertsand students of the space community.

Five of them were chosen in a world-widecompetition. The winners were PaulaAlmeida from Ecuador, Nabila Ibrahim fromEqypt, Nabin Paudel and Nabin KumarMalakar from Nepal and Juliano Schirmbeckfrom Brazil. For the competition, all studentswere asked to submit a proposal on howspace can be related to their country’s envi-ronment. This first initiative was a greatsuccess! For the students it was a unique cul-tural and scientific experience, they enjoyedthe exchange of information and wereamazed that the experts in their field werewilling to help.

One student commented, “it has given me alifetime vision to the space science and tech-nology and I got really excited to see these all!I hope that I can do something for mycountry because in my country space tech-nology is at ground state and ESA has told meto suggest some idea so that they can helpme!” Another added “ESA and UNESCOhave really contributed to my life and career.”One event of particular interest to studentfrom developing countries was the UN/IAFWorkshop on “Education and CapacityBuilding in SpaceTechnology for theBenefit of DevelopingCountries” with empha-sis on remote sensingapplications.

Feedback from both stu-dents and professionalsunderlined the benefitsfrom students partici-pating in the IAC.Preparations are alreadyunderway for next year’smeeting in Vancouver,where 100 Europeanstudents and eight stu-dents from developingcountries will be giventhe opportunity to par-ticipate.

For more info on the 6th IAC Student Participation Programme, visitwww.esa.int/education/iaf or email us at

[email protected] or [email protected]


Dorothea Czernik



YES2, the 2nd Young Engineers’ Satellite, is an educational project inwhich European students build, fly andre-enter the first student-built re-entryvehicle with 30-km tether

The YES2 mission

The YES2 mission is planned to be launchedon the Russian carrier Foton-M3 in 2006 todemonstrate the SpaceMail concept, apayload-delivery system from Low EarthOrbit. YES2 returns a capsule, possibly aninflatable one, from space to Earth usingtether technology. This tether is a very long,thin cable (30 km, 0.5 mm) that performs thefunction of a conventional deboost rocket byswinging back the capsule to Earth. After thetether is cut, the YES2 capsule begins the re-entry into the atmosphere to land on theground.

The YES2 team

Students are developing the YES2 mission inthree phases. The first phase (2002- 2003)focused on involving students from all overEurope to set up a network of participatinguniversities. Some 400 students from 25 uni-

6

Silvia Calzada

YES2, ESA EducationDepartment [email protected]

Alexander van Dijk

Delta-Utec SRC [email protected]

The YES2 team

YES2 tether deployer test rig at Delta-Utec SRC

The 2nd Young Engineers’ SateEuropean students develop tethered re-en



versities were involved in this phase to studythe technical feasibility of the mission andcome up with concepts for inherently safecapsules. We are now in the second phase(2003-2005). Here, five centres of YES2expertise have been created where thedetailed design of the satellite and manufac-turing and testing of the components arecarried out. These centres are linked to differ-ent institutions in Europe and are hosted atfive universities, each having a special roleand expertise in the YES2 project: Kent (UK)in the instrumentation and software of thecapsule, Krefeld (Germany) in the develop-

ment and testing of the tether deploymentsystem (FLOYD), Patras (Greece) in themechanical design and thermal tests,

Reggio Emilia (Italy) in the re-entrytechnology and the inflatable capsule

structure and Samara (Russia) in theaerothermodynamics, mission simulationsand tests. In the final phase (2006), the flightpreparation, flight recovery and post-flightanalysis will be performed.

Delta-Utec SRC, a Dutch company based inLeiden, is the project’s prime contractor.

7

Summer Space School in Samara, Russia

Many educational initiatives take place in the framework of YES2. For example the ESA-sponsoredSamara Space Summer Schools (SSSS 2003 and 2004) where YES2 students get together with theirRussian colleagues to share knowledge and work. During these two-week events, Russian experts helpsolve questions related to the YES2 mission in fields such as aerothermodynamics, telemetry, trajec-tory and more. The Space Summer School 2004 will focus on the development of the YES2 Fotinocapsule and several payloads of the satellite such as the capsule’s beacon and the on-board GPS.

More information about the project andinformation how you can participate isavailable on the website: www.yes2.info

telliteentry technology


Artist’s impression of YES2capsule deployed from Foton-M3


Towards a knowledge-based society.The Lisbon objectives.According to the Lisbon EU Summit declara-tion of March 2000, by the year 2010 Europeshould become the most competitive anddynamic knowledge-based economy in theworld. The 2002 European Summit inBarcelona called for an increase in the pro-portion of European GDP invested inresearch from 1.9% to 3% by the same dead-line, with a third of the investment comingfrom the private sector.

The European Commission has organised aseries of conferencesi dealing with this topic, thefirst of which presented the results of the HighLevel Group on Human Resources for Scienceand Technology. Following the issues raised bythe Commission's communication published inFebruary 2003 on "The role of universities inthe Europe of knowledge", this independentgroup of experts indentified a need for a stronggrowth of human resources in science and tech-nology in Europe, and called for higher-qualitytraining. The European Research Area (ERA)project is one of the responses to the Lisbonobjectives as it aims to overcome the weak-nesses of research in Europe. But higher-qualitytraining for future researchers should start wellbefore they enter university. Should theBarcelona objectives be met, 700,000 newresearchers would be active by 2010. Is it possi-ble to train a future generation of scientists andengineers within 5 years?

The interest of pupils in Science, Engineeringand Technology (SET) studies starts in primaryand secondary school, long before they choosetheir career path. The scientists of the futureneed to develop core competencies from anearly age.That is why all European institutions,academies and international organisationsshould work together to encourage young stu-dents and provide a good training system forgraduates and post-graduates.

What can space do for the scientists ofthe future?The decrease of interest in SET studies, theshortage of science teachers, the ageing popu-lation, the low proportion of women in SETcareers and the risk of brain drain are widelyknown threats to a knowledge-based societyin Europe.

Although space education cannot solve thesemajor problems it can contribute effectivelyto combat the decrease of interest andpromote excellence in SET at all study levels.

ESA Education programme targets studentsfrom the early stage of their studies (6 years)to postgraduate level (28 years) and includesprogrammes for teachers (at a primary andsecondary level) and activities with universitystudents.

Tools like EDUSPACE, website on EarthObservation for teachers in secondary school,now available in six languages) can transformlessons. Projects like the Student ParabolicFlights Campaign allow university students towork in a team and see their own experi-ments flying in weightlessness.

ESA selects and finances students’ participa-tion to events like the InternationalAstronautical Federation Congress wherethey can meet experts and receive feedbackon their projects and ideas.

The International Space Station (ISS)Education Programme focuses on a range ofactivities for primary and secondary schoolsand university students and develops teach-ing materials. Its activities are supported bothby ESA and the ISS Education Fund.

ESA’s education programme is evolving: anEducation Department has recently beencreated and the overall re-organisation is closeto being finalised. The coordination of all edu-cation activities within ESA will be strength-ened and a closer alliance with Member Stateinstitutions and the EU will be reinforced.

The need for a common European policyin human resourcesWith its White Paper on Space the EuropeanCommission acknowledges the contribution ofSpace Policy to the promotion of SET careersand calls for ESA’s support offering tools likethe Marie Curie programmeii in the frame-work of the European Research Area .

The implementation of a common SET educa-tion policy becomes urgent as the Lisbon targetapproaches, and the White Paper represents thestarting point of a fruitful co-operation.

8

Building the workforce of the f


Micaela Bracciaferri


The decrease ofinterest in scienceand technologycareers threatens toslow down thesocial and economicgrowth of Europe.This article explainshow a EuropeanSpace EducationPolicy can helpreverse the trend.


9

It is now the time to see what has been doneso far and what there is still to be done.It willnot only be important to encourage youngpeople to choose SET careers but also to traina generation of graduates ready to respond toa changing research and industry context. Itis therefore necessary to work on a commonframework for quality education in Europewhere mobility is facilitated at all levels: fromuniversity to industry and vice versa. ESA isin the position to improve the communica-tion between the stakeholders.

The ESA/EC Framework agreement for aEuropean Space Policy has now entered intoforce and a “High-Level Space Policy Group”will define the next steps for common activi-

ties. One of its tasks will be the organisationof a Space Council that will bring togetherESA and EU Council for the first time. Thetime has come to build a coherent long-termeducation policy.


future

Star biographies in the AlpsThis year’s Alpbach Summer School will focuson the theme “The Birth, Life and Death ofStars”. Alpbach, a village in the Austrian Alps,enjoys a long tradition of Summer Schoolswith in-depth lessons on aspects of spacescience and space technology for Europeangraduates, post-graduate students, young scien-tists and engineers.The purpose is to foster thepractical application of knowledge, developorganisational and team working skills andencourage creativity. Four teams of 15 partici-pants each will compete for the best project, ascientific mission study related to the theme ofstellar life cycles, judged by an independentjury composed of some of Europe’s leadingspace science experts.

The School will take place from 27 July to 5August 2004.The Summer School is organisedby the Austrian Federal Ministry of Transport,Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and theAustrian Space Agency (ASA) and sponsoredby the European Space Agency (ESA) and thenational space authorities of its member states.

Astrophysics is undergoing a revolution inunderstanding, driven by developments inground-based and space-based measure-ments by space observatories such as XMM-Newton, Integral, the Infrared Space

Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope andmany future missions. The Summer Schoollectures will inform students in detail aboutthe scientific advances made, the science goalsof planned missions and the technical details ofthe missions, spacecraft and payloads. TheSummer School takes place at a time whenESA and other agencies tackle the “big ques-tions” and try to find answers to them.Students of the Alpbach Summer Schoolshould regard themselves as part of thisprocess. Using the lectures and other sources ofinformation they can identify a specific scien-tific goal and develop a mission concept,spacecraft and payload to address it. Themission proposals will also be considered inthe framework of ongoing planning exercisesfor the future European space science pro-gramme.

For further information please contact:Michaela Gitsch

Austrian Space AgencyCanovagasse 7A-1010 Wien

Tel. +43-1-403 81 77 12Fax. +43-1-405 82 28

e-mail: [email protected]

Michaela Gitsch

Austrian SpaceAgency

Sources: - European Commission: Towards a European Research Area -

Science, Technology and Innovation - Key figures 2003-2004 - Communication from the Commission: “Education and Training

2010” The Success of the Lisbon Strategy hinges on Urgent Reforms (11.11.2003)

- Communication from the Commission: The Role of the Universities in the Europe of Knowledge (05.02.2003)

- Increasing Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe. Report to be presented at the EC conference EUROPE NEEDS MORE SCIENTISTS Brussels, 2 April 2004.

- European Commission – ESA White Paper on Space

Useful links:www.europa.eu.int/comm/research

i Conferences: “Increasing HumanResources for Science andTechnology in Europe”, 2 April 2004,Brussels (Belgium). “The Europe ofKnowledge 2020. A vision forUniversity-based Research andInnovation”, 25-28 April 2004, Liege(Belgium).ii The Marie Curie Actions arefinanced by the FrameworkProgramme's Human Resources andMobility (HRM). They aim at thedevelopment and transfer of researchcompetencies, the consolidation andwidening of researchers' careerprospects, and the promotion ofexcellence in European research.


Distribution of educational content viasatellite: from the TV to the IP WorldDistance education via satellite is not a newconcept; for many years satellite TV broad-casting has been used to distribute educa-tional content in the same way as the distri-bution of commercial satellite TV channels.The utilisation of a TV broadcasting channelvia satellite for education is often hamperedby the cost, which means that only if thecommunity of users is very large the systemcan reach some form of sustainability. In thelast years, with the rise of IP (InternetProtocol), an alternative set of technologieshas become available. In particular, the possibility to distribute IP-based content via

satellite in broadcast and multicast modeusing low-cost equipment at the receptionsites, associated with new highly efficientvideo encoding techniques, has opened abreadth of new opportunities to tele-education via satellite.

Espresso for Schools: Espresso for Schools is one of the first proj-ects hosted in ESA Telecom Applications.Launched in 1998 and concluded in late1999, the pilot project of “Espresso forSchools” has developed a structured solutionfor providing educational multimedia contentto British primary schools.

The architecture of the system is straightfor-ward: every week, new educational contentprepared at “Espresso” by a team of teachersand editors or gathered from a set of selectededucational sites on the internet, is assembledin a portal organised according to the Britishcurricula, and it is transmitted via satellite tothe schools using a package delivery serviceprovided by AstraNet. In each school, the“Espresso” content is received by a satellite TVdish and stored on the dedicated server. Thisway, video-rich educational material can beaccessed without delay even when a broad-band internet connection is not available.

Teachers have very little time to find educa-tional resources suitable for activities in theclassroom, and “Espresso” provides a tool touse ICT technologies without forcing theteacher to become an internet or multimediaexpert. Espresso also provides a news sectioncovering recent news topics.

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Tele-education projects by ESA

Andrea Cotellessaand FrancescoFeliciani

TelecommunicationsDepartment

Directorate ofEuropean Union andIndustrialProgrammes

ESA


The satellite is a very effective means to transfer educational content and a faster solution when compared to terrestrial networks. Satellite communications can distributelarge amounts of data over a wide geographical area. Since the late 1980s, ESA has beenactive in promoting activities in satellite communications with industry and user groupsto bridge the distance between teachers and learners. The internet shows howInformation and Communication Technology (ICT) can become an integral part of the educational world. Satellite communications continue to play an important role inenabling the widespread use of ICT for education.

ESA’s Telecom Applications programme encourages, hosts and partially finances tele-education projects in order to develop and promote the use of satellite communications.

More than 1750 schools in the UK use Espresso.


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Satellite technology canreach schools in ruralareas.

Pupils and teachers have enthusiasticallyaccepted the whole concept of Espresso. Sinceits start in 1998, “Espresso” has become a fullycommercial initiative, which is now adoptedby more than 1750 schools and used daily byover 400,000 pupils in the UK. For more infor-mation about “Espresso for Schools” go to:http://telecom.esa.int/espresso

6. SchoolSat, the Satellite Goes to SchoolAccess of primary and secondary schools tobroadband internet is one of the key prioritiesin the EU political agenda. However, manyrural areas are still excluded from broadbandaccess to the internet. In order to provide asolution to this problem, the SchoolSatproject used a two-way satellite system toconnect ten schools in rural Ireland during a

service pilot phase in 2002-2003. The firstpart of the pilot phase has shown that therate of internet use of the school is drasticallyinfluenced by the teachers’ motivation, expe-rience and expectation, and not only by theavailability of broadband access or by theratio PC/pupils.

The project was partially financed by ESAunder the ARTES 3 Multimedia Programmewith the Belgian company @IT as prime con-tractor and the Irish Organisations WebSat,National Centre for Technology in EducationNCTE and DCE.More information on the SchoolSat projectcan be found on the website:http://telecom.esa.int/schoolsat

5. SkyNurse: an Interactive EducationalPlatform for Professional TrainingAmong the different opportunities for profes-sional education, the SkyNurse project, leadby the Italian research organisation PadovaRicerche in cooperation with Italian compa-nies Telbios, Eukrasia and Didae, develops atele-education platform which will be used ina pilot service phase to train 180 professionalnurses in Romania in intensive qualificationcourses. After their examinations, the selectednurses will travel to Italy for the final part ofthe course and might eventually be recruitedby Italian healthcare institutions.


SA Telecom Applications

Project Name [Prime Contractor - Countries Involved]

Key Subject Web Link

Espresso for Schools[Espresso Productions – UK]

Multimedia educational resourcesvia satellite for Primary Schools

http://telecom.esa.int/espresso

MODUS[SSI – I]

Distance University course overSkyPlexNet

http://telecom.esa.int/modus

TRAPEZE[EFECOT – B]

Two-way satellite education networkfor children of travelling families

http://telecom.esa.int/trapeze

HAMLET[Consorzio Nettuno – I]

Intelligent portal for flexible learn-ing environment via satellite

http://telecom.esa.int/hamlet

SchoolSat[@IT – B, IRL]

Connectivity for Rural Schools viatwo-way satellite network

http://telecom.esa.int/schoolsat

SkyNurse[Padova Ricerche – I]

Training of Romanian Nursing Staffvia Satellite

http://telecom.esa.int/skynurse

Some of the tele-education projects in the ESA Telecom Programme.

Carndonagh CommunitySchool in IrelandSchoolSat is a trial serviceproviding fast access tothe Internet for schools inrural Ireland using leading-edge satellite technologydeveloped by Web-Sat inDublin and supported bythe Telecommunicationsdepartment of theEuropean Space Agency.

The Espresso for Schools website.


12EDUnews No 6 July 2004

“It is great to see that science and technology can be somuch fun! And it is nice that people in these jobs are cool,too,” says a 16-year-old while admiring the training pool inthe European Astronaut Centre (EAC). On 22 April, theEAC and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) inCologne and the European Space Operations Centre(ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, were full of teenage girlswho wanted to see what it is like to work in the spacesector. Girls’ Day is a Germany-wide event for schoolgirlsbetween 14 and 16. All across the nation, technology-based businesses, research institutes, laboratories, officesand organisations like ESA and DLR open their doors toinform potential future engineers and scientists aboutcareer possibilities in science and technology.

More than 160 girls visited the different centres, madeexperiments in propulsion technology, tried out comput-ers in ESOC’s control room and chatted with female pro-fessionals from all disciplines about how they becameinterested in space. At the end of the day, the girls leftexhausted and with lots of new knowledge in their heads– the most important of which is that science isn’t scaryafter all!

For the female teenagers, the personal touch that theESA-experts added by talking about their experiences inthe space sector giving their own explanations of spaceresearch can be decisive. Lecturers, teachers and speakersoften fulfil a function as role-model for youngsters wholook for orientation in choosing a career path. “It was onlyby chance that I myself ended up in the space environ-ment and I am happy it worked out that way. I wishtoday’s girls would act in a more goal-oriented way. Theyshould be aware of the fact that this will not only haveconsequences for their future professional career but willalso have a considerable influence on their private life.”-said Petra Mittler who talked about her work in medicalcontrol for astronauts in space at the EAC.

Kristin Wirth, one of the female experts from ESA, hopesto have inspired the scientists of the future: “I am veryenthusiastic about science and physics and space and myjob within the Rosetta Science Operations Team. So Iwanted to get a bit of this motivation across to the girlsand encourage them to become engaged in science.”Daniela Zajoncz from ESA’s Education Department andESA-coordinator for the EAC event, added: “We are notcareer coaches but role models. We aren’t here to give lec-tures about our work but show girls that female profes-sionals are nice, normal, accessible, fun women.” Itworked: “This day is great,” comments a girl. “I can learnabout new jobs and I get help to think about my own life.Can I become an engineer even though my grades inphysics are bad this year?”

The girls enjoyed the hands-on activities most.

Physics can be fascinating.



Training for space-related applicationsFORUM ISSAT 2004

17 and 18 November 2004 Toulouse, France

What training should be offered to highlight and develop the socio-economic contributions from space sciences andtechnologies? The third ISSAT (Institut des Sciences Spatiales et Applications de Toulouse) Forum will try to answerthis question involving the organisations in charge of space-related training and the Industry and Space Agencies .The Forum is targeted at educators, students and professionals of the following areas:

– Control and management of the environment– Telecommunication, positioning, navigation, data collection– Knowledge of the Universe– Space & Society

The forum will be organised in four sessions, one dedicated to each these topics.In conclusion, there will be a round-table discussion of the forum theme on thebasis of the presented contributions.

The ESA “space girl” team.

Future control room staff?

Pupils enjoy a chat with a real “space girl” from ESA.

For further informationwww.forum2004.issat.com


ESA Education participation in “Madrid por laCiencia” Fair , 27 – 30 March. Of the approximately120 000 visitors (30 000 students on Monday andTuesday), some 25 000 people participated in ESAactivities, which included workshops, videos, games,quizzes and a lecture.

Pictures from Madrid

Ariane 5 workshop with students

More than 300 people wanted to see the Rosetta video –there wasn’t enough space in the 50 m2 stand!

Game with children using the ESA images. Learn and play!

The space quiz. All children wanted to play …


Valeriano Claros, head of VILSPA, on the inauguration day.


Children as young as four can learn about theexcitement of space with new teachingresources launched by the British NationalSpace Centre (BNSC).

The new BNSC resources will help teachersto inspire very young children to learn aboutour planet and encourage them to find outmore about space. The lessons are easy todownload from the BNSC Learning Zonewebsite and are tailored to Key Stage 1 of theUK National Curriculum (children aged fourto seven).

Children across the UK will discover why theMoon shines, why we cast a shadow and whathappens when the Sun goes behind a cloud.

Teachers can take their class on a journeyaround the Solar System and look at howplants and animals grow here on Earth.

The materials help with English and mathslessons as well as science, with sections dedi-cated to literacy and numeracy in a spacesetting.

The BNSC has a wide range of resources forstudents in Key Stages 1 to 4 (ages four to16). The web-based lesson plans and work-sheets help teachers and their studentsexplore the science and technology behindground-breaking events like Europe’s firstmission to Mars, as well as look at howhumans impact on the Earth and find outmore about the Solar System. All BNSC edu-cation materials are tied to the NationalCurriculum and are a unique way to teachscience, maths and design technology.

Lessons for Young Space CadetsFiona Hatton

British NationalSpace Centre

Visit the BNSC’s Learning Zone website atwww.bnsc.gov.uk/learningzone or contact

[email protected] for moreinformation.


The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Itsmission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capabilityand ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits tothe people of Europe.

ESA has 15 Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada hasspecial status and participates in some projects under a cooperationagreement. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resourcesof its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities farbeyond the scope of any single European country. ESA is an entirelyindependent organisation, although it maintains close ties with theEuropean Union with whom it shares a joint space strategy.

ESA’s job is to draw up the European space plan and carry itthrough.The Agency’s projects are designed to find out more aboutthe Earth, its immediate space environment, the Solar System andthe Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies andpromote European industries. ESA also works closely with spaceorganisations outside Europe to share the benefits of space with thewhole of mankind.

ESA has its headquarters in Paris and it is here that future projectsare decided upon. However, ESA also has centres throughout

Europe, each of which has different responsibilities:• ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre,

is the design hub for most ESA spacecraft and is situated inNoordwijk, the Netherlands.

• ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre, isresponsible for controlling ESA satellites in orbit, and is inDarmstadt, Germany.

• EAC, the European Astronaut Centre, trains astronauts forfuture missions and is situated in Cologne, Germany.

• ESRIN, the European Space Research Institute, is situated inFrascati, near Rome in Italy. Its responsibilities include collect-ing, storing and distributing satellite data to ESA’s partners andacting as the Agency’s information technology centre.

In addition, ESA has liaison offices in the United States, Russia andBelgium, a launch base in French Guiana, and ground and trackingstations in various parts of the world.

ESA’s mandatory activities (Science Programme and the generalbudget) are funded by a financial contribution from all theAgency’s Member States, calculated in accordance with eachcountry’s gross national product. In addition, ESA conducts anumber of optional programmes. Each country decides in whichoptional programme it wishes to participate and the amount of itscontribution.

What is ESA?

In the run-up to the launch of the newresources at the Education Show in

Birmingham, BNSC held a competitionto design a friend for the Learning

Zone astronaut, Cosmo. Thewinning character was Switch,

designed by 11-year-oldJake Johnson from

Leicestershire.


EDUnews

Coordinator: Micaela BracciaferriContact: [email protected]: Barbara WarmbeinDesign & Layout: Eva Ekstrand

Published and distributed by:ESA Publications DivisionESTEC, Keplerlaan 1 2200 AG Noordwijk The NetherlandsPhone: (+31)71 565 3400Fax: (+31)71 565 5433

© 2004 European Space AgencyPrinted in The Netherlands

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The 6th IAF Student Participation Programme will take place from 4 to 8 October 2004 inVancouver, Canada. The application deadline for ESA sponsorship for non-European studentsis 20 July 2004. All students from around the world are encouraged to apply. This year’s themesare Disaster Management and World Heritage Sites. More information can be found athttp://www.estec.esa.nl/outreach/iaf/index.htm

The Children’s international art contest organised by Eurisy, Unesco and the Norwegian SpaceCentre is dedicated to children from 6 to 10 years. The last contest deadline for the Unesco cal-endar was extended to 20 August 2004.All website visitors can vote for the best drawing/paint-ing of the month by visiting the website: http://www.spacecentre.no/competition. More infor-mation is given on this website.

In the framework of the French “Fête de la science” the International Weather Forum will takeplace in Paris from 14-17 October. The forum is organised by “Société Météorologique deFrance” and ESA is one of the partners. There will be exhibitions and activities for children andthe general public. Coming soon on the website www.cite-sciences.fr or www.smf.asso.fr

The World Space Week will take place from 4 to 10 October. There will be activities all overthe world. Check what’s coming up in your country on the official website: www.spaceweek.org

Coming soon for teachers: on the EDUSPACE website “Africa from Space”, “Envisat”, “EuropeImage Databank”. Please visit www.esa.int/education/eduspace

The ESA International Space Station Education team develops educational products andorganizes activities for different age groups. These are the events planned for 2004. More infor-mation under http://www.esa.int/spaceflight/education

• ISS Education Kits: Distribution in Belgium (Euro Space Centre Sep-Oct 2004) and Spain(Granada Oct 2004)

• Video Lesson Newton (DVDs): launch 10 September 2004 (ESTEC). For the DVD launch,ESA astronaut Pedro Duque and the three secondary-level schools from Germany, Irelandand Spain who were filmed as part of the DVD will be present. Request a copy at:[email protected]

• Erasmus Programme - Life in Space Lessons (with University P&M Curie) - Sep. 2004,Banyuls

• ISS Education Fund: Annual Meeting 10 September 2004 (ESTEC tbc)

What’s coming up:


no 6 july 2004 - esa · no 6 july 2004 page 12-13 students in kourou yes2 ... on the theme “outer...

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