Brains tested. Robots built. Stars aligned. Week 3 was a cosmic ride.
Week 3 at SSP25 had it all: midterm panic, robot races, interplanetary science, law, and laughter. Monday kicked off with the much-anticipated (and mildly feared) midterm quiz covering our first 32 core lectures. Fortunately, our brains were quickly rebooted with a full slate of stellar lectures: Kazuya Yoshida got our gears turning with Space Robotics, Diego Guerra gave us insight into Satellite Telecommunications, and Bernard Foing walked us through the intricacies of Space Systems Engineering. The afternoon workshops ranged from building robots to teaching the next generation about space with Steve Sherman.
On Tuesday, we turned our attention to the cosmos and beyond: Charity Weeden introduced the New Space era, Audrey Allison explored the comms industry landscape, and Virginia Wotring took us on a neural journey through space. We even pondered the possibility of life beyond Earth with Pascale Ehrenfreund’s session on Astrobiology. In the meantime, our team project sessions are picking up speed as well.
Wednesday was intense in the best way. We examined life support systems and lunar habitats with Virginia Wotring and Bernard Foing, delved into national space law with Tanja Masson-Zwaan, and learned about the realities of practicing space medicine from Carole Dangoisse. The evening asteroid panel, featuring Pascale Ehrenfreund, Jim Green, and Makoto Yoshikawa, might have given us existential dread, if it weren’t so fascinating!
Thursday’s lectures were a whirlwind of policy, space powers, and deep-space wonder. Tanja Masson-Zwaan returned for a sharp session on New Space law, Ian Christensen explained the global space landscape, Su-Yin Tan guided us through GNSS and Earth sustainability, and Jim Green closed with the grand Life Cycle of the Stars. That evening, we gathered for a movie night screening of The Martian, where Jim Green himself joined us to add behind-the-scenes context (and possibly plot-check Matt Damon).
Friday marked the end of Core Lectures (we made it!). We wrapped up with sessions on entrepreneurial space (Adil Jafry), export controls (Dimitra Stefoudi), and the fate of the universe (Jim Green). The highlight? The Robotics Competition, where wheels spun and robots collided in the most glorious chaos. And as the week came to a close, we celebrated Culture Night, an unforgettable evening of food, music, and dancing from around the world, reminding us of the beautiful diversity within our SSP family.
