Design course in space astronomy

Abstract

The aim of this course is to provide direct experience of collaboration withother European astronomy/space science students and to gain an insightinto the establishment of ESA space science programmes. The first halfof the course takes place in Southampton. The Southampton studentswork as a team to track a past ESA space science mission from initialconception through to final realization and operations. This is achievedthrough the study of the high quality documentation available in theform of ESA reports. Each student has well defined responsibilities withinthe team. The second half of the course takes place in Tenerife, at theUniversity of La Laguna. Again the students are expected to complete a teamstudy of a space science mission. This time, however, there are importantdifferences: the study teams are now international, approximately halfSouthampton and half University of La Laguna students; and this timethey are expected to design a completely new space astronomy missionwith clearly specified scientific objectives and operational constraints.