There were some difficulties with the server recently, sorry about that.

 

Hi,

I want to share all my bookmarks with you, via my del.icio.us page: http://del.icio.us/jimvolp

I started using del.icio.us because I got frustrated that when working
on different computers, you always need that one bookmark that you
just saved on your other computer.

With del.icio.us you have all your bookmarks on one (online) location,
so even when you are at friends or on travel, you can directly add URLs
you find (useful) to your bookmarks.

Hope you find some links useful / some useful links

greetings from sunny Spain,

Jim
 

I believe strongly in the importance of youth participation. In fact that is
the purpose of this blog: to increase the participation of youth in space.

There are three links I want to share with you:

1) The TakingITGlobal Guide to Action: http://www.takingitglobal.org/action/guide/ 

2) The UN ESACAP Youth Participation manual: http://www.unescap.org/esid/hds/youth/part-manual.asp 

3)  UN Volunteers, How to volunteer: http://www.unv.org/how-to-volunteer.html

If you have links of the same nature, please share them by leaving a comment.

Ad astra!

Jim

The weekly Planetary Exploration Newsletter (PEN) was set up one year ago
to provide ’news and announcements across the professional community of
planetary science and related disciplines’.

 
I just visited the site at http://www.planetarynews.org and signed up to subscribe
- you may wish to do the same.

You’ll also find a very useful listing there of upcoming meetings in the planetary
exploration field.

 

The European Space Agency is looking for a new group of astronauts.
 

This is the chance of a life time to make my aspirations that I have since
a young boy come true!
 

Today an information meeting took place where I work and  even though
the entire meeting was in Spanish which I am still in the process of mastering,
it was a great day on a journey which I hope will end in space in a number
of years to come. 
 

Wish me luck! First stop: the JAR-FCL 3 Class 2 medical certificate.

The response to the internship opportunity is pretty overwhelming.
 

Over 55 people have responded, and currently between 2 (already
confirmed) and 5 interns will be based in Madrid for the first round
which means more or less till September 2008. Multiple students
have already shown interest for after September, so it looks that in
the next half year we can get to work  and make good progress!
 

 

At the same time, we are starting to form a virtual team of people
who want to contribute but who can't physically be present in Madrid.
If you are interested joining this team, please contact me.
 

 

Last week, we had an introductory meeting to discuss the heritage of
SEDS and who founded it all: Peter Diamandis, Bob Richards and late
Todd Hawley. An inspirational presentation from Bob can be found here.
 

Next week: Thursday 22nd May we will have our first real meeting
at the LEEM.es HQ at the UPM. If you would like to join..... great!
 

More information about the progress will be added on this Blog.
 

Ad astra! 

 

 

 

 

European Satellite Navigation Competition 2008      
    
“Galileo Masters 2008“ starts. This competition is a Call for Ideas
with the aim of developing new applications in the satellite navigation field.     
      
The Galileo Masters competition presents this year a prize of 20.000 €
for the best idea. In addition it will be industrialised and supported by
the principal partners of the sector.

Deadline: 31st July 2008.

More information: www.galileo-masters.com

Congratulations to India with a successful launch.

Pradeep has a number of nice pictures of the event:

http://pradx.org/ 

 

I hadn't realised there are so many Space prizes!

The following blog has them neatly listed on the right:

http://spaceprizes.blogspot.com/

Simple initiative that can make a difference:

Space Petition

“Humanity 3000: Think Globally, Act Locally”

April 19, 2008 | Bellevue, Washington

Summary

Historically, Humanity 3000 seminars have drawn distinguished scholars from all over the world to address critical issues that may affect the long-term future of humanity. In April 2008, for the first time, the Foundation For the Future will host its first “local seminar,” bringing together some two dozen leading citizens from Washington State for focused discussions on how to “think globally, act locally.” Prominent state business leaders, educators, state and local legislators, university presidents, and others have been invited to engage in a two-day discussion on the long-term future of humanity from a “community inquiry” perspective.

Increasingly, Humanity 3000 subjects such as population, resources and sustainability, education, technological developments, governance, the biosphere, space, and energy have planet-wide implications and ramifications. But how do issues such as these play out on the local level? How do the two levels impact each other? What does it mean to think globally while acting locally? These and related questions will be addressed in the April 2008 Humanity 3000 seminar.

Go to website 

This is possibly one of the most fantastic things I have found on the net!

Have you ever seen a website that was changed and it now just isn't as
good as it used to be, or worse, the information you badly need is no
longer available?

Well, thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine you no longer
have a problem! Try it! The Archive contains over 100 terabytes and
85 billion web pages archived from 1996 to the present.

For example:
- Space Generation (a shame the wiki pages did not get archived!)
- Space Alumni

If you have ever created a webpage, you now have a fair chance to see
quite a bit what you have done restored! Wow. So cool.

At the same time you might see your mistakes for ever perpetuated.
You better double check what you are making public!

 

 

 

 

This is so cool! You can collaborate with NASA and ASU
and work on real Mars science data! Unbelievable.....

Go check it out: http://mesdt.asu.edu/what/index.html

Good luck!

 

You can pick where you want to take not just a high-res,
but the highest res ever (~30cm/pixel!) image of Mars!

Why have I not heart about this before? Incredible!

You have to hurry up a bit as the deadlines are very soon!
First cycle deadline: 9th March
Second cycle deadline: 23rd March

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/challenges/hirise/index.html

Title    SEDS Development Intern opportunities
Location    Madrid, Spain
Start date    As soon as possible

Summary:

The organisation Students for the Exploration and Development of
Space (SEDS) is seeking interns to work on a variety of interesting
topics. You will be based close to Madrid, Spain.
 
Interested candidates should contact: jim.volp@seds.org.

---------------
Job Description
---------------
Concepts such as commercial space liners, space hotels, space launch
systems and lunar missions were thought to be empty promises....

But now in the post-X PRIZE world we are looking at:
- The first commercial space liner starting service in 2010
- The first successful test of commercial space hotel modules
- A space vehicle developed in a fraction of time or cost as before
- And more than 6 teams competing to land a private rover on the Moon.

We truly live in the interesting times of space exploration!
And this is why SEDS and it's members are full of energy!

SEDS wants to interconnect students, all over the globe,
in order to share and advocate their passion for space. 

SEDS is looking for a small number of motivated people that want
to work on the challenge to expand the existing network of SEDS
chapters and move towards an active global student network.

During the internship you will be working on a variety of disciplines:
research, business/organisation development, marketing & PR.

In more detail this forum of the Space Generation Public Relations Team
has some examples of the typical activities one needs to think of.

Additionally, you have the choice to work on / support:

- International Astronautical Federation's Administrative Committee
  on Workforce Development / Young Professionals Programme
- IAF Administrative Committee on Space and Society
- World Space Week education
- Space in Africa
- Space Generation Advisory Council in support of the United Nations
  Programme on Space Applications
 

----------
Conditions
----------
Salary:   The internship is not paid for. Accommodation is provided.
Deadline: As soon as possible
Duration: Flexible, minimal 1 month


The successful candidate shall
- be between 18 and 35 years old;
- possess good communications skills in English;
- have a good understanding of (volunteer) organisations;
- have no VISA issues to enter Spain;


Other skills desirable
1. Ability to work under your own initiative
2. Interest in marketing & PR, networking
3. Working as part of an international team

Interested candidates should send a brief email stating
their interest and include a CV or other proof of skills.

______________________________

Basic Information on SEDS
-------------------------
SEDS is an independent, student-based organization which promotes the
exploration and development of space. SEDS pursues this mission by
educating people about the benefits of space, by supporting a network
of interested students, by providing an opportunity for members to
develop their leadership skills, and inspiring people through our
involvement in space-related projects. SEDS believes in a space-faring
civilization and that focusing the enthusiasm of young people is the
key to our future in space.


Links

http://www.seds.org
http://www.iafastro.org/index.php?id=842
http://www.iafastro.org/index.php?id=617
http://www.worldspaceweek.org/education.html
http://www.spacegeneration.org