The United Space School

High Altitude Balloon Launch

Jack Kay attends the United Space School in Houston

This year, I was lucky enough to have been given the amazing opportunity to attend the United Space School (USS) in Houston, Texas. The school is run by the Foundation for International Space Education (FISE), in affiliation with NASA, and operates for two weeks each year over July/August. The primary focus of the USS is to provide space-based education to international students, while offering an introduction to the aerospace industry.

Along with other like-minded students from over 20 countries, I was presented with the challenge of designing, in full, a manned mission to Mars. To accomplish this, we were divided into different teams according to our skills: each team with a specific aspect of the mission to work on. I was a member of the green team, charged with designing the habitation and life support for the astronauts who would be going to Mars. This approach allowed us to work more effectively together as a team, but also inspired much more communication and collaboration than would have otherwise been possible, as each team’s designs and plans had to work cohesively with the designs of each of the other teams. (It was no good, as we quickly found out, to design a massively overprotected habitat if the other teams couldn’t lift it off the ground!)

The two-week program culminated in a final presentation, when we showed our work to a panel consisting of several NASA scientists and engineers, whose thoughts provided us with more than enough motivation to make sure our work was to a high standard! The task was daunting, but the combination of the extremely engaging work and friendly, talented teammates ensured that we were able to succeed in our endeavours.

The USS was based at the University of Houston, Clear Lake, Texas, and was where each team worked on our projects, as well as where we gathered and listened to many interesting and influential speakers including astronaut, Nicole Stott, and many others from the upper echelons of NASA and other private aerospace corporations. These presentations were both extremely engaging and relevant to the projects we were working on, with speakers discussing topics ranging from geology and Martian life to space law and nuclear propulsion, ensuring that there was always something new and exciting for each of the students to learn about. The opportunity to have interactive and engaging conversations with such inspiring people was truly unforgettable.

There were also many opportunities for the students to get out of the classroom and have first-hand experiences with many aspects of the aerospace industry in the Houston area. We were lucky enough to visit the Johnson Space Centre, where we visited the Apollo Mission Control Centre and Space Park, where a Saturn V rocket

The Green Team in front of the rocket engine testing chamber at Ad Astra Rocket Co.

The Saturn V Rocket at Johnson Space Centre

Jack gives the students a taste of Australian culture at the Cultural Faire Night!

Jack Kay receiving his Graduation Certificate