Annually, the International Space University hosts an eight-week intensive Space Studies Program (SSP), which provides participants with courses in all space disciplines, as well as hands-on education through workshops and professional visits. As part of this year’s program — hosted by Rice University and NASA ‘s Johnson Space Center — participants from the Human Performance in Space Department visited Texas A&M University to observe some of the exciting research conducted in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
This year’s SSP cohort includes 155 participants from 35 different countries. The visit to Texas A&M included 24 participants from the Human Performance in Space Department, co-chaired by Dr. Ana Diaz Artiles, an assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and a Williams Brothers Construction Company Faculty Fellow.
“I have been involved with the International Space University since I attended the SSP as a participant in 2010. It was a life-changing experience for me, and I am always excited to give back to the program,” said Diaz Artiles. “This year I served as co-chair of the Human Performance in Space Department, organizing 14 different activities over a period of 2.5 weeks for 24 participants from 14 different countries.”
Participants observed some of the experiments being conducted in the Bioastronautics and Human Performance Lab by Diaz Artiles and her team members, including Logan Kluis, Adrien Robin, Yasmin Zaman, Vani Vellore, Anna Monso, Renee Abbott, and Cort Reinarz. SSP participants also toured the Aerospace Human Systems Lab run by Texas A&M aerospace engineering professor and NASA astronaut Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar.
“Our aerospace engineering department at Texas A&M University is becoming one of the major referents in bioastronautics and human performance. During the visit, the SSP participants were exposed to our facilities, research projects, and interactive demos,” Diaz Artiles notes.
During their visit to College Station, participants also met Professor John Connolly, an aerospace engineering professor of practice who has been with the International Space University for 32 years and joined Texas A&M in 2023 after a 36-year career at NASA. A number of students were able to participate in a rocket building/launch workshop hosted by Connolly.
“I have been a faculty member at ISU for 32 years and served as ISU’s Space Studies Program director for 3 of those years. My association with ISU has allowed me to teach in over 20 countries,” said Connolly.
During their visit, the SSP cohort also participated in ChallengeWorks, an outdoor challenge course run by the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Management in the College of Education and Human Development. ChallengeWorks puts participants through a series of activities that require trust, communication, teamwork and creative problem-solving — all of which are applicable to the different space disciplines SSP participants are studying.