This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Type | Non-profit interdisciplinary university |
---|---|
Established | 1987 |
Chairman | Chris Sallaberger |
Chancellor | Dr. Valanathan Munsami |
President | Nicolas Peter (acting) |
Vice-president | Gary Martin, Vice President, North American Operations |
Director | Sylvie Mellinger |
Students | 200/year |
Location | , , 48°31′23″N7°44′13″E / 48.5231°N 7.7369°E |
Website | www |
The International Space University (ISU) is dedicated to the discovery, research, and development of outer space and its applications for peaceful purposes, through international and multidisciplinary education and research programs. ISU was founded in 1987 and is registered in France and in the US as a non profit organisation. The university offers a one or two-year Master in Space Studies (MSS) in Strasbourg and shorter professional development programs across the world. The latter include an itinerant nine-week Space Studies Program (SSP), a five-week Southern Hemisphere SSP in partnership with the University of South Australia, a 6-week Commercial Space graduate certificate in partnership with the Florida Institute of Technology, and one-week Executive Space Courses in Australia, Europe and the United States. [1]
The International Space University Central Campus and global headquarters are located in Illkirch-Graffenstaden which is a suburb of Strasbourg in northeastern France. ISU was founded on the "3-Is" philosophy providing an Interdisciplinary, Intercultural, and International environment for educating and training space professionals and post-graduate students. As of April 2020, there were over 5000 ISU alumni from 109 countries. In November 2017 the International Space University hosted a conference in Strasbourg that led to the formation of the Moon Village Association. [2] [3] The ISU faculty members include astronauts, space agency leaders, space engineers, space scientists, managers, and experts in space law and policy comprising an international collection of experts in technical and non-technical space-related fields. [4]
The Chancellor of the International Space University is Pascale Ehrenfreund, [5] Chair of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board and President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). She was preceded by Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, [6] who succeeded then–European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain and acclaimed science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, in 2004. The sixth President of the International Space University is Juan de Dalmau who succeeded Prof. Walter Peeters, in September 2018. [7]
In 1985, three young space enthusiasts created the Space Generation Foundation, dedicated to fostering a sense of identity for those people born since the beginning of the space era. [8] The ISU founders are Peter Diamandis, one of the founders of SEDS and a medical doctor with a Master's in aerospace engineering from MIT; Todd Hawley, a graduate from Space Policy Institute at George Washington University; Robert D. Richards, an engineer and physicist, and former assistant of the well-known astrophysicist Carl Sagan. The three men generated a series of novel ideas from which a "Space University" was exceptionally well received. [9] The idea garnered the support of a number of important personalities in the space field, including Prof. U.R. Rao, president of the Indian Space Research Organization; Dr. Harrison Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut and former senator; Dr. Burton Edelson, Associate Administrator of NASA for Space, Science, and Applications; Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill from the Space Studies Institute; space pioneer Prof. Hermann Oberth; and Arthur C. Clarke, the visionary writer, along with many others. [10]
This initiative was further developed and presented to the Advances in the Astronautical Sciences (AAS) Meeting dedicated to Aerospace Century XXI in Boulder, Colorado in 1986. [11] The following year, a three-day Founding Conference convened at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 10 to 12 April 1987. These dates were chosen to commemorate the flight of Yuri Gagarin (12 April 1961), the first human in space. The Founding Conference culminated in the formal creation of the International Space University, and established it as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization in the state of Massachusetts, USA. The first ISU Summer Session Program (SSP) took place at MIT from 20 June to 20 August 1988 with the support of the major space agencies. A significant announcement in an article dating 5 July 1988, in the Christian Science Monitor introduced the four founders and their novel and exciting venture. In a ceremonial gesture, the first international participants in the summer session were led by the four founders in a walk across the Charles River from MIT in Cambridge to Boston. The artwork for the first brochure was made by Pat Rawlings and is still in use today. The original offices of the fledgling ISU were located in a Victorian townhouse overlooking bustling Kenmore Square in Boston.
Following an international competition for a host city for the Central Campus, the ISU home base moved from Massachusetts to Illkirch-Graffenstaden in the Urban Community of Strasbourg, France, in 1994. ISU is now a non-profit association registered in Alsace (France), and is still registered in the US as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. The Governing Members of ISU are international organizations, industries, space agencies, academic institutions, and individual members.
The French Ministry of Education formally recognized ISU as an institute of higher education in 2004 [12] The International Space University has had permanent observer status with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs since 1998. ISU was also granted full membership of the Space Agency Forum (SAF) in 1995. ISU is a member of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and has been invited to contribute to a number of international activities including the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, [13] the IAF Symposium on "Bringing Space into Education", the World Space Workshop on Education, and the National Science Week Steering Committee.[ citation needed ]
ISU originally evolved in a geographically decentralized way, with summer sessions convened in a different country each year. In 1994 the Central Campus was established in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, because of its central European location and unique[ citation needed ] character. During the first years, the Master of Science classes took place in the Pôle API of the École Nationale Supérieure de Physique de Strasbourg.
Since 2002 ISU has had its own building, thanks to the support of the local authorities. The Central Campus is now located in the Parc d'Innovation of Illkirch-Graffenstaden just south of Strasbourg. [14]
ISU's organizational structure includes a Board of Advisors, chaired by the Chancellor, and a board of trustees elected by the Governing Membership of the ISU. The Board of Trustees determines ISU's overall objectives, oversees the university's affairs and appoints the ISU President. The President is supported by an executive committee, Academic Staff (who prepare and deliver ISU programs) and Administrative Staff (responsible for the daily operation of the Institution). The Academic Staff are led by the Dean, who is supported by staff responsible for ISU's academic programs (Masters and SSP) and library services. The Academic Council of ISU is responsible for ensuring the academic quality of ISU's teaching and research activities. ISU academic staff include a number of Resident Faculty, augmented by other Faculty and Lecturers as needed for the programs. [4]
Since 1995, the collection of the ISU Library has grown to reach about 9,000 space-related documents. The collection supports the interdisciplinary aspects of the courses and includes subjects like space-related business and management, space policy and law, international cooperation, remote sensing and Earth observation, telecommunication, space engineering, space mission design, astronomy, space life sciences, and space medicine. The Library also features news about space, information from space agencies and research institutes around the world, and awareness and alerting services from journals. RSS feeds can be used to follow the library's new acquisitions. Interested people may subscribe to the feeds for receiving regular updates about books, electronic documents, or Team Projects reports that are added to the online catalog. [15]
Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. He was the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong. Following the death of Michael Collins in 2021, he is the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member.
Geoffrey Alan Landis is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He holds nine patents, primarily in the field of improvements to solar cells and photovoltaic devices and has given presentations and commentary on the possibilities for interstellar travel and construction of bases on the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is an international space advocacy organization based in Paris, and founded in 1951 as a non-governmental organization to establish a dialogue between scientists around the world and to lay the information for international space cooperation. It has over 390 members from 68 countries across the world. They are drawn from space agencies, companies, universities, professional associations, museums, government organizations and learned societies. The IAF organizes the annual International Astronautical Congress (IAC). As of 2019, Pascale Ehrenfreund has served as the president of the IAF.
Robert Brent "Bob" Thirsk, is a Canadian retired engineer and physician, and a former Canadian Space Agency astronaut. He holds the Canadian record for the most time spent in space. He became an officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2013 and was named to the Order of British Columbia (OBC) in 2012.
Dafydd Rhys "David" Williams is a Canadian physician, public speaker, author and retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight, STS-90 in 1998, was a 16-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia dedicated to neuroscience research. His second flight, STS-118 in August 2007, was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. During that mission he performed three spacewalks, becoming the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk and setting a Canadian record for total number of spacewalks. These spacewalks combined for a total duration of 17 hours and 47 minutes.
Jeffrey Alan Hoffman is an American former NASA astronaut and currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.
Michael James Massimino is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut. He is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
Chiaki Mukai is a Japanese physician and JAXA astronaut. She was the first Japanese woman in space, the first Japanese citizen to have two spaceflights, and the first Asian woman in space. Both were Space Shuttle missions; her first was STS-65 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in July 1994, which was a Spacelab mission. Her second spaceflight was STS-95 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. In total she has spent 23 days in space.
Norman Ralph "Norm" Augustine is a U.S. aerospace businessman who served as United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1975 to 1977. Augustine served as chairman and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. He was chairman of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee.
Peter H. Diamandis is an American marketer, engineer, physician, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, and the cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University. He is also cofounder and former CEO of the Zero Gravity Corporation, cofounder and vice chairman of Space Adventures Ltd., founder and chairman of the Rocket Racing League, cofounder of the International Space University, cofounder of Planetary Resources, cofounder of Celularity, founder of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, and vice chairman and cofounder of Human Longevity, Inc.
Illkirch-Graffenstaden is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is the second-largest suburb of the city of Strasbourg, and is adjacent to it on the south-southwest. Illkirch-Graffenstaden's population more than doubled in fifty years.
John Logsdon is the founder and from 1987 to 2008 was the director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.
Dava J. Newman is an American aerospace engineer. She is the director of the MIT Media Lab and a former deputy administrator of NASA. Newman is the Apollo Program Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has been a faculty member in the department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and MIT's School of Engineering since 1993.
Yi So-yeon is a South Korean astronaut and biotechnologist who became the first Korean to fly in space.
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.
David Charles Napier Webb was a consultant to government agencies, corporations, universities, and nonprofit organizations on various aspects of aerospace development, technology, and education.
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is the largest global annual hackathon. This two-day event provides an opportunity for participants to utilize NASA's free and open data and its Space Agency Partners' space-based data to address real-world problems on Earth and in space.
Pascale Ehrenfreund is an Austrian astrophysicist. Ehrenfreund holds degrees from the University of Vienna and Webster Leiden. Prior to becoming a Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs at George Washington University, she was a professor at Radboud University Nijmegen, Leiden University, and University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She was the first woman president of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and from 2015-2020, she was the CEO of the German Aerospace Center. Since 2019, she is the President of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and since 2018, she is the Chancellor of the International Space University (ISU). Since 2021 she is president of the ISU. The main-belt asteroid 9826 Ehrenfreund is named in her honor. She is the President of Committee on Space Research from 2022 to 2026.
Walter Peeters is a Belgian engineer, economist and professor. He became president of the International Space University in 2011.
Norah Patten is an Irish aeronautical engineer and an award winning STEM advocate from Ballina, County Mayo. Dr Patten has been selected to become Ireland’s first person in space as part of a mission on board Virgin Galactic's second generation of spacecraft, known as Delta in 2026/2027.
Article 1 - The ISU Institute called "International Space University", located in the innovation park, boulevard Gonthier d'Andernach in Illkirch-Graffenstaden (Bas-Rhin)) is recognized by the State as of the start of the 2003 academic year.(translated to english)