Past opportunities 2020 – ESA Education

Online Human Space Physiology Training Course 2020

Status: Call for the applications closed. Training course delivered.
Date: 12 – 23 October 2020

Description: The course is organised online, over two weeks, in collaboration with ESA’s Space Medicine Team. During the first week, through interactive lectures, students are introduced to the human physiological effects of spaceflight and to the approaches to mitigate the effects of microgravity on the human body with the use of analogues and models of the space environment. During the second week of the course, students work on a group project, investigating some of the major issues and challenges that must be overcome as human spaceflight moves beyond the International Space Station.

The students are introduced to the following topics:

What it’s really like to live in space
The challenges, lessons, and successes that have led to permanent occupation of the International Space Station
The conditions that the ISS provides to protect, and support life
How the senses perceive being ‘weightless’
How key physiological systems respond to microgravity, what mechanisms underlie these changes, and some approaches that may be used to mitigate such effects
How human space physiology research is performed both in space, and using Earth-based analogues
Major issues and challenges current human spaceflight and future space exploration must overcome

Day 1	Venturing into Space: Introduction A History of Human Spaceflight The Realities of the Space Environment Life Support on the ISS
Day 2	Human ‘Spaceflight’ Science: A Sense of Space How Do Animal and Cellular Studies Help Our Understanding of Human Space Physiology The Vestibular System and Microgravity Induced Neuroplasticity ESA Human Research Activities – ISS and Ground Analogues
Day 3	Key Space Environment Adaptation: Introduction to Team Project Effects of Microgravity on the Cardiovascular System Fundamentals of Muscle and Neuromuscular Function in Space Fundamentals of Bone Physiology in Space Immunology in Space
Day 4	Space Medicine Support: Medical Support of ISS Astronauts Nutritional Support for Astronauts Exercise and Physical Rehabilitation for Spaceflight Psychological Support for Spaceflight
Day 5	Preparing to Venture Beyond the ISS & LEO: Space Radiation Hot Topics in Human Spaceflight Space Medicine Projects at the EAC Space Suits – Working outside your Spacecraft
Day 6 to 9	Team Project
Day 10	Team Project Presentations & Training Course Conclusion

Standardisation Training Course 2020

Status: Call for the applications closed. Training course delivered.
Date: 29 September – 7 October 2020

Description: The course is delivered online, in collaboration with ESA’s Requirements and Standards Section, every morning during 8 days. During this course University students are given an introduction to the ECSS and learn from several ESA experts the importance of using standards and the impact they have on the way space activities are implemented. They are also provided with an overview of how and why standards are used in different disciplines at ESA.

Preliminary schedule:

Day 1	Introduction to the ECSS System Management
Day 2	Product Assurance & Quality Assessment Mechanisms – part 1
Day 3	Mechanisms – part 2 Systems Engineering
Day 4	Control Engineering Electrical Engineering – part 1
Day 5	Electrical Engineering – part 2 Communications protocols
Day 6	Thermal Engineering Software Engineering – part 1
Day 7	Software Engineering – part 2 Software Product Assurance Ground System and Operations
Day 8	Structures Conclusion Evaluation

Online Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Operations Training Course 2020

Status: Call for the applications closed. Training course delivered.

Date: 7 – 18 September 2020

Description: : The course is delivered online, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings during two weeks. Taught by an ESA expert from the Advanced Operations Concepts Office of ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany, the course is offered through formal lectures without excessive mathematics or technical jargon, but with a heavy emphasis placed on the interaction with the students. Students learn about:

the challenges of operating a spacecraft (as opposed to designing a spacecraft)
the operator’s view on all the spacecraft subsystems and the design features to implement in order to operate them
‘physiological’ traps to be avoided during operations and testing

Preliminary schedule:

Day 1	Introduction – the difference between design and operations engineers
Day 2	Mission design and payloads Attitude Dynamic and Control Subsystems – part 1
Day 3	Attitude Dynamic and Control Subsystems – part 2
Day 4	Operations Orbit Control System Power – part 1
Day 5	ESECPower – part 2 Thermal Galileo
Day 6	ESEC Telemetry, Telecommunication & Command On Board Data Handling – part 1
Day 7	On Board Data Handling – part 2 On Board Software
Day 8	Wrap-up ESA & ESA Education Programme Conclusion Evaluation

Online ESA/ELGRA Gravity-Related Research Summer School 2020
Status: Call for the applications closed. Summer school delivered.
Date: 22 June – 3 July 2020
Description: During this ten-day Summer School, university students are introduced to gravity-related research by ELGRA and ESA experts from across Europe. Throughout stimulating lectures about the current research under microgravity and hypergravity conditions in life and physical sciences, students appreciate the benefits of performing research at different g levels. Moreover, the students will work within small groups to come up with potential ideas for future gravity-related experiment student projects, also with the benefit of the existing ESA Educational platforms such as the parabolic flights, the human centrifuge or the ISS.

Preliminary schedule:

Week 1 (22 – 26 June 2020)
Day 1	Introduction to ESA, its programmes and opportunities Introduction to ELGRA and SELGRA Gravity and gravity-related research platforms Gravity-related research overview ESA Education Office and hands-on programmes Develop a gravity-related experiment Presentations by former student teams of ESA Academy’s hands-on programmes Team project introduction
Day 2-4	Gravity-related research lectures Gravity machines and animal models Complex fluids in microgravity Space motion sickness and vestibular adaptation in microgravity Playing with gravity to modulate cells How engineering can improve health in microgravity Multiphase thermal management research in microgravity Artificial gravity as a new space countermeasure Technology demonstrations in microgravity Use of microbes to support humans in space Project management Team work
Day 5	Team project topic pitch
Week 2 (29 June – 3 July 2020)
Day 6-9	Team work Team meetings with tutors
Day 10	Team project presentations

Online Space Debris Training Course 2020
Status: Call for the applications closed. Training course delivered.
Date: 8 – 12 June 2020
Description: During this five-day training course, the university students are provided with an introduction to the concept of space debris, why it is necessary to address this issue and how the mitigation policies set by ESA apply to missions. The students do not only learn about the space debris environment and mitigation technologies, but also about how it affects spacecraft’s operations and the issues and solutions foreseen in the future. Taught by ESA experts, mainly from the ESA Space Debris Office, as well as external experts from the sector, the course is delivered through formal technical lectures, which are complemented with hands-on exercises based on a real-life case study.

Preliminary schedule:

Day 1: The Environment	Introduction Forces Acting on a Space Object Space Debris Environment Legal Environment
Day 2: Mitigation	Mitigation Principles and Guidelines Mitigation Context and Technology The Future of the Environment
Day 3: Operations	Space Surveillance Collision Avoidance Operations in the Space Debris Environment Protection and Shielding
Day 4: Re-entry	Aerothermodynamics Atmospheric Break-up On-Ground Risks Tour of ESEC-Redu
Day 5: The Future	Design for Demise Active Removal Evaluation

Ladybird Guide to Spacecraft Communications Training Course 2020

Status: Call for applications closed. Training course delivered.
Date: 18 – 21 February 2020

Description: Taught by an Advanced Operations & IOD Project Manager who works for the Operations Department of ESOC, the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, the course is delivered through formal lectures without excessive mathematics or technical jargon, but with a heavy emphasis placed on the interaction with the students.

University students learn about:

the challenges of communicating with a spacecraft
an operator’s view on all the spacecraft subsystems both on-board and on the ground
‘physiological’ traps to be avoided during operations and testing

Schedule:

Day 1	Introduction The Challenge Modulation Group Exercise
Day 2	Demodulation Coding Decoding Group Exercise
Day 3	Protocols Radio Frequency transmissions/reception Visit of ESEC-Redu Link Budgets Group Exercise
Day 4	Real Ground Stations Conclusion of the Group Exercise

Clean Space Training Course 2020

Status: Call for applications closed. Training course delivered.
Date: 11 – 14 February 2020

Description: During this four-day course, university students familiarise with approaches to consider the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of a space mission. The course focuses on technologies to design a satellite which will not generate more debris, that will remove the ones already in orbit and that will be environmentally friendly. The lectures provide the necessary knowledge and tools to develop in teams a ‘clean’ satellite during the group project.

Schedule:

Day 1	Clean Space Overview Space Debris Mitigation Requirements & Implication in the Spacecraft Design Life Cycle Assessment & EcoDesign Group Project Session 1
Day 2	Reentry Strategies Design for Demise: why and how? Passivation: Propulsion & Power Group Project Session 2
Day 3	On-Orbit Servicing Close Proximity Operations Active Debris Removal Overview Guidance, Navigation and Control for Capturing Robotics for Capturing Group Project Session 3
Day 4	Visit of ESEC-Redu Space Debris Mitigation for CubeSats & Small Satellites Design for Removal Groups Final Presentation

Concurrent Engineering Workshop – January 2020

Status: Call for applications closed. Workshop delivered.
Date: 14 – 17 January 2020

Description: Concurrent engineering is a method of designing and developing products in the space sector where all subsystems are designed simultaneously making the process more efficient. During this four-day workshops, university students learn about concurrent engineering and its benefits, taking advantage of the use of the ESA Academy’s Concurrent Design Facility (CDF). Guided by ESA experts, the students first learn to use the Open Concurrent Design Tool (OCDT) and identify design drivers. They are then divided into groups of 2 or 3 to cover the several subsystems and, together with their groups, they create a subsystem concept in order to later achieve an already identified mission concept using concurrent engineering.

Schedule:

Day 1	Introduction to the Mission and Concurrent Engineering Get familiar with Workbooks and OCDT Mission overview and Trade-Off Mission and System Modes Definition
Day 2	First iteration of all Subsystems. Modify Workbooks First Budgets Presentations of the first results
Day 3	Finalisation of the Concept Product tree Budgets Presentation of the second iteration
Day 4	Final Design Consolidation & any Open Issues Preparing the Final Presentation Final Presentations

Gravity-Related Experiments Training Week 2020

Status: Training week delivered
Date: 28 – 31 January 2020

Description: The aim of this Training Week is to better prepare selected university student teams for their participation in the ESA Academy’s Fly Your Thesis!, Drop Your Thesis! and Spin Your Thesis! Programmes, by providing them with the information and basic knowledge that is required to design, develop, test, and perform a gravity-related scientific experiment or technology demonstration. The idea is to optimise the transfer of know-how and expertise from the experts in the field to the students, before their experiment campaigns, through lectures, workshops and meetings with the experts. Hence, the objective is to increase the quality of collected data and the success rate of the students’ hands-on projects.

Schedule:

Day 1	Introduction to ESA, ESA Education programme and opportunities Student teams presentations Overview of research in altered gravity and experiment demonstrations Social event
Day 2	System Engineering and Requirements Definition Documentation Process Former student projects Presentation of the facilities Meet your experts (session 1)
Day 3	Meet your experts (session 2) Introduction to ELGRA and SELGRA Project and Risk Management Visit of ESEC-Redu
Day 4	Automation Workshop CAD Workshop Communication and outreach Workshop Inspirational lecture