Monday

On Monday was a department day and starting with the ENG department, they attended NaraSpace in the morning and were able to learn more about the constellation design process the company used to achieve their business goals. In the afternoon ENG visited UEL and were able to learn more about wheel designs for the surface of the moon, and assemble a small 2-wheeled remote-controlled rover which they then tested in lunar regolith simulant test-bed.

The Apps and MGB department conducted a professional visit to two locations. First the visit to KIGAM:
1. They spoke about collaboration between KIGAM and KASA to create an eco-system for ISRU on the moon and support habitat as well as future missions to mars
2. They also spoke about their research on developing lunar simulant that is also been used by UEL to test their rover.
3. They also showed us the engineering model of the rover they are going to use to look for minerals on the moon

This was followed by the visit to the Satrac Initiative:
1. They spoke about their involvement in developing various Earth Observation satellites, they spun off from KAISAT (Korea Advance Institute of Science and Technology)
2. They did devlop the first satellite for Korea and they are now developing fleet and constellation of satellite. We also got to see their clean room from observation chamber where they were developing/ manufacturing satellite for customers.

The PEL department went on a Professional Visit to T.um which was a glimpse into a futuristic way of technological living, presented by the facility staff acting in-character. It was an immersive experience in which the participants had the opportunity to save the world in a VR game, viewing holograms, and even a viewed a simulated remote surgery. The PEL department were active participants in this guided story through the venue, and it was certainly a valuable experience which showed what a future city in space may be like. 

HPS visited the Inha Research Institue for Aerospace Medicine and had an introduction to the Inha Research Institute by Kyu-Sung Kim, MD, PhD. He is a professor in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Inha University Hospital,  the Director of the Inha Research Institute for Aerospace Medicine, and the President of the Korean Aerospace Medical Society. They were able to view the hypergravity simulator and clinostat, and the following presentations were delivered:

– Effects of Spaceflight Stressors on Set-Shifting Performance in Male Rats by Hi Ho Vanessa Chang

– Microgravity-Induced Changes in Neural Circuits in a Microfluidic System by assistant Professor Hye Jin Yoo

– Functional and Structural Changes in the Inner Ear Induced by Hypergravity by Jin Sil Choi PhD

Then on Monday, HPS took part in a cooking class at Hansic cooking, and reflected on the importance of nutrition and food culture for team dynamics and psychology of long duration flights. 

The SCI Department had an AI themed day in which they discussed a number of use cases and learned about topics such as Generative AI. They had an informative presentation from AWS which discussed how NASA uses AI.

Monday evening was also an opportunity for departments to hold their social events. ENG went to a playground theme park at the Suwon Starfield shopping mall while HPS were able to have a laser tag event.

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, TP Climate Change had a debate workshop by Charles Nzeuss about using satellite data for remote sensing, in contrast to using other methods for scientific data collection. The team divided into four groups; two had to support using satellite data, and the other two had to be against it. After thorough discussion the group held a strong position that satellite data was the best method for understanding Earth’s climate.

Tuesday afternoon was an opportunity for departments to have study time and work on preparing their final assessments.

At the end of Tuesday afternoon there was also a Business start-up workshop and Founder speed-dating session hosted by Lisa and Maxim. This was a brilliant initiative and had many positive reviews from the participants.

Wednesday

The final department day was on Wednesday. This involved project presentations for the members across all departments. PEL held a moot court as their final assessment, and this was a very successful event which the students prepared very well for.

HPS members delivered their presentations on their space-omics research and it was valuable culmination of the research conducted, tied to the physical and mental testing they experienced.

The APPS deliverable was the space application challenge, which was a presentation of future missions focused around some different uses of space to shape life on Earth. APPS then went on ANOTHER visit to finish the phase, and attended Nara Space, visiting their clean room facility and even having dinner there at the office with the CEO – a meal of Korean Fried Chicken.

HUM had a movie screening of the film titled “The Moon”, by Ann Brashier, American Filmmaker. It was a time to compare influences in filmmaking between east and west and the impact of film on public perception of space. It was very relevant in the understanding of the Korean space industry. HUM then had their deliverable presentations, including artistic expressions, music, art, storytelling, and short film. 

Thursday

Thursday was a full schedule for the TPs. TP Lunar progressed with working on their case studies, focused in short and long-term plans for sustainable infrastructure. Some of the key themes that research is focused on presently is Space Ports and the associated traffic management, habitats, and energy. In the short term case study they are exploring the communications networks that are required as well as site selection and resource utilization.

TP Climate had their first session with their Chair, Francois, in-person. This was an opportunity to meet and start to interact even further across the teams.

TP AI continued their strong progress towards AI enhanced maintenance and AI enhanced health. This TP is exploring AI enabled spacecraft maintenance prediction and AI enabled health monitoring in regards to EVA use.

TP Climate is working on two case studies of using space to assess climate change, with Rwanda as one, and then another assessing Urban heat islands, with a main focus on assessing South Korea as an example.

The staff appreciation dinner was on Thursday night, and it was one of the final activities with the Department staff members to come together and acknowledge the hard work they completed to support the program.

Friday

Friday was another full TP working day full of conversation and research. Each TP is immersed in small working group efforts, and have less than two weeks before the project presentation. The TP groups have occupied all the available classrooms as they spill out into working groups and are making great progress towards their first draft.

The final culture night for the program was held on Friday evening. The countries presenting were: Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, Peru and Spain, with special guest Iran.