International Space University: How to become an Astronaut

Sunday, June 14, 15

Hi all,

Greetings from the stunning campus of Ohio University, Athens Ohio. I’m here because this is the host site for the International Space University’s annual Space Studies Programme, a 9 week intensive postgraduate professional development programme about all things Space. Yes, that’s what I said, All. Things. Space. And it doesn’t disappoint.  And I’m delighted to be writing for HeadStuff to share a little of what’s going on while I’m here.

Week 1 has just finished and so much has happened already. There are 113 participants from 30 countries with many varied backgrounds, some are already working at their national space agencies, others are recent graduates from aerospace engineering. And then there are some from humanities or other non-technology backgrounds, or people like me, who straddle both worlds of technology and the arts. A diverse international, interdisciplinary, and intercultural group with one common bond. We all love Space.

I’m slowly working my way through speaking with all of them -I’m probably on about 30 so far, but there are 9 weeks ahead of team projects, presentations, excursions, and lots of lectures, all living and dining together. I have every confidence that I will know everyone intimately by the time August 8^th comes around.

The intense, close-working environment is a key element of the Space Studies Programme (or SSP15 as we like to call it). As John Connolly SSP15 Director (on loan from NASA Johnson Space Centre) told us on our first night here,

‘You guys make the programme, getting to know each other, working closely together. And you will learn the most from each other. And form life-long bonds. SSP is going to change your life’.

There are 5 of us making TeamIreland this year and I’m in pretty great company: Orla Punch from Limerick, who submitted her final year thesis in architecture at UL the day before she flew out (her thesis focused on the design and construction of future homes on Mars). Hugh Byrne is an engineer working at avionics company Curtiss Wright. Jonathan Faull is an engineer working at UCD, and our youngest teammate, James McCreight from Belfast, finished his last final year exam in aerospace engineering the day before the course started.

Our first team task is to come up with something for next Friday’s culture night- a series of weekly presentations about the culture and cuisine of your country.  The standards are very high. Fergus Russell Conway, a Dubliner who recently completed the masters programme in space studies told us that he made Guinness Pie, colcannon, coddle and a vegetarian option for his culture night- on his own. In 5 hours. No pressure then!

But the week so far has been incredible. After 1 and a half days of orientations and introductions, the programme began in earnest on Monday night at the official SSP15 Opening Ceremony. TeamIreland proudly walked beneath the Tricolour at the ‘Flags of Our Nation’ entrance parade. John Connolly, Director of SSP15 announced our country as ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’ bellowed across the auditorium. It was a proud moment, and the first inkling for me that I was part of something truly special.  This was also the night that I finally met my first female astronaut, the humble and inspiring Ohio local, NASA Astronaut, Sunita Williams, more affectionately known as ‘Suni’.  In her keynote speech, she advised us on how to approach the summer ahead, “Get to the starting line, be prepared, ask the hard questions, do the right thing. Own up, apologise, admit.’ And she concluded with, ‘Remember this: you are working for the people on this planet’.  James Free, Director at NASA Glenn Research centre (partners with Ohio University in hosting this year’s SSP15) reminded us of Ohio’s rich heritage in aviation, starting with the Wright Brothers, and boasting the highest number of NASA astronauts per state including Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and of course Suni.  Prof. Dennis Irwin, Dean of Russ College of Engineering at Ohio University and host of SSP15, told us of his close relationship with ISU for over 20 years – ‘I finally met people who think like me. To all participants of SSP15, Space will never be a lonely pursuit again”. Co-founder of ISU and founder of X Prize, Peter Diamandis told us, ‘Go follow your passion. Be brave. Be bold. I wish you the pleasure of changing your life and supercharging your passion’.  And the night continued with a reception at the Baker Centre Ballroom and the launch of a commemorative seasonal brew “Rye of Jupiter’ from local brewer Jackie O’s.

And then it began. SSP15. Lectures on space law, business & entrepreneurship, policy, satellites, microgravity, orbital mechanics and space. And team projects selection. And field trips. Always about space brought to us by varied specialists in their field of expertise of space flown in especially from all over the world. And evening lectures from Bob Richards, Co-founder of ISU and founder of Moon Express, and Prof. Jeff Hoffman, NASA Astronaut who spoke about the 1993 mission on the Endeavour Space Shuttle to capture and repair the Hubble Telescope. We were fortunate to also have Prof. Hoffman lecture us, and he was a particular favourite for many participants- apart from the fact that we were within breathing distance of a man who fixed the Hubble Telescope and had 5 missions aboard the Space Shuttle under his belt, his lectures were particularly fascinating. He told us about the radiation in Space, its effects on spacecraft, about microgravity. Someone asked him if he ever worried about the amount of radiation that he had been exposed to during all those missions. He said that he gets checked every year at NASA, but did remember one night aboard the space shuttle during a solar storm, when a gamma ray ‘pinged’ through his brain- he said it was like fireworks going off behind his eyes, and then he started to chuckle as he remembered that that night’s rest was pretty psychedelic, as the gamma rays continued to shower onto the shuttle, through the spacecraft and through his body too.

Prof. Hoffman is a true inspiration- he’s a great communicator, incredibly intelligent and magnificently humble. He sat with us every night at breakfast, dinner and lunch, and answered every question we asked.

I have to be careful not to get too used to this. Miss the moments that become my life stories. Like this one: We had movie night on Wednesday and once it got dark, the IT team put up a mobile screen and projector and we all watched ‘Interstellar’ on the grass under stars. Like me, it’s a favourite for a lot of us. I looked up to the dark sky above us, as Matthew McConaughey’s character takes off, that great rumbling soundtrack under the action, excellently realized under Chris Nolan’s astute direction. Helping us all to imagine what it would be like at the moment of launch, the thrust and power, the force on our bodies of travelling at 11km/sec. And I looked to my right. And Prof. Hoffman was sitting there, just watching the movie, like every other person. And I thought to myself ‘He’s been up there. In Space. And I’m lying on the grass watching Interstellar with one of the 500 people who have EVER lived who have seen the Earth from a distance’.

Director, John Connolly was right – SSP15 is going to change my life.