Hundreds of students and teachers from the United States and countries across the globe will converge in Puerto Rico next month for the National Space Society’s (NSS) 35th annual International Space Development Conference® (ISDC) to celebrate and engage people in the goal of space settlement. The event is set for May 18-22, 2016 at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Students attending the conference, grades 6-12, will be sharing their imaginative ideas about how people will be living and working in space. They are attending the conference as a result of their participation in this year’s NSS/NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest, co-sponsored by the National Space Society and NASA Ames Research Center. The contest challenges students to design a space settlement, which must realistically address concerns such as atmosphere, food, gravity, radiation shielding, energy production, and recreation for human space colonists.
“The students attending the ISDC are so passionate and excited to be there to share their ideas and projects. There is so much to learn from them, their cultures, and creative insights,” said Lynne F. Zielinski, NSS vice president of public affairs and chair of NSS’ education and outreach committee. “We are always dazzled by their insightful and futuristic designs. Their enthusiasm is infectious and gives us all hope that we will soon be living and working in space ourselves. These students are the ones to take us there.”
Each year, NSS invites contest participants to attend the organization’s ISDC. Throughout the conference, students will provide oral presentations about their space settlement designs, along with colorful artwork related to the contest. The NSS/NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest’s Grand Prize winner, Project Divinity team, will receive the $5,000 NSS Bruce M. Clark, Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
The Project Divinity team is comprised of five students, SeungHyeon Do (Kongju High School, grade 12), JaeHun Jang (Korea Science Academy, 12), DongHyun Kim (Korea Science Academy, 12), YongSung Park (GwangJu Munsung High High School, 11), HwanSung Jang (Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, 11) under the mentorship of KangSan Kim, from Incheon, Republic of Korea (South Korea). (www.nss.org/settlement/nasa/Contest/Results/2016/ProjectDivinity.pdf).
“Project Divinity is a space settlement for 10,000 individuals situated in the Equatorial Low Earth Orbit (ELEO), 500 km altitude above the equator. It is built in the near future where space tourism, coupled with commercial development of launch vehicles, provides enough incentives for primitive forms of space industry to grow. Project Divinity describes how the Divinity space settlement and its neighboring facilities can become the foundation for a new market for outer space.”
This year’s competition received 996 entries from 4,017 students. Entries came from 23 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, England, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Korea (So.Korea), Romania, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela. U.S. entries were received from 15 states and territories: California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
ISDC is the yearly conference of the National Space Society, a non-profit organization that has hosted the gathering since 1982. The event brings together leading managers, engineers, scientists, educators, and business people from civilian, military, commercial, entrepreneurial, and grassroots advocacy space sectors.
Online registration is currently open with a variety of options, from single-day registration passes to full conference registration with meals. Discounts are provided for youth, full-time students, seniors, and members of the National Space Society and its affiliates.
“We would like to invite local attendees interested in space to the annual conference of the world’s premier space public interest group,” stated Aggie Kobrin, the conference organizer and NSS board member. “Kids today are somewhat lacking in inspiration to pursue STEM fields and this conference is making giant strides to solve this problem.”
For more information, visit isdc2016.nss.org.
