on the 83th birthday of the former NASA scientist we invite to the 

Opening of the first "Jesco von Puttkamer School"

The opening will take place on the 24th of September at noon campus in the Wurzner Str. 4 in Leipzig.

We hereby invite all 4th to 10th graders and parents/grandparents with interests in science, robotics, engineering, and space flight. There will be presentations, tours, conversations with pilots of NASA-Rovers, and the ability to test drive one of our rovers!

Those looking for a science group, those interested in assistance with the Bell-Arbeit for the Abitur, or those looking to participate in an exchange program to Germany can apply for the academic year at this occasion.

Prof. Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer 
spent his life supporting Leipzig based students, helping them reach their true potential through the International Space Education Institute. This school is named after him, as a way to honor his contributions to the world of science. Dr. Puttkamer was born on the 22nd of August, 1933, in Leipzig. He graduated at the TU-Aachen in 1962, receiving a diploma for engineering, and moved to the United States to work for NASA. He lived through the Apollo era, participating in many space shuttle missions, and eventually transferred to NASA headquarters in Washington DC in 1974. He was also a well-known writer, and scientific advisor for the star trek movies. In the 90s, Puttkamer spent his time working together with the Russian space administration to facilitate the construction of the ISS. He led this mission until his death in 2012.

The founders oft he first Jesco von Puttkamer school in Leipzig have personally been guided by Jesco since 2003. The international team award named after him is awarded to the fastest international team at the NASA Rover Challenge every year (and has been awarded to the Leipziger based teams 6 times). Von Puttkamer believed that a school should supporting students in their scientific pursuits.

The Renovation
In the summer of 2016 the school was renovated, and the habitat named Space Hotel was expanded, funded by 300.000 Euros from privat invested. A modern network of solar panels now powers the classrooms. The school is not government affiliated, but instead supplements a regular school learning experience with a scientific education. It is managed by the International Space Education Institute. Companies from around the globe, as well as private individuals, are promoting this school as a way of supporting scientific education. Over the past 10 years this system has helped many students become proficient engineers and doctors.

After School Activities
ASA´s are made possible by the generous material donations from Leipziger businesses and startups, as well as the engagement of students and teachers and the financial contributions of participants. The membership-fee is similar to what is charged by sport, dancing- or riding clubs and will be payed monthly for one year.
Currently offered courses include a robotics course on Thursdays as well as the world renowned NASA-Rover Activity on weekends and holidays for advanced and active students. This events are opening the doors for international collaboration and excursions, including Russia, the United States and 22 other countries.

The Campus
The campus encompasses 1500 square meters, located near downtown at the end of the Dresdner street. The main building is located on the Wurzner Str. 4 and is open between 4pm and 7pm daily. Parking is available.

The Mainbuilding
The main building is a 5 story building, originating from 1893. Has been used by the Space Education Institute since 2005. 2016 it has been thoroughly redeveloped. The roof was renovated and many improvements were made to other parts of the structure. Solar panels provide electricity and warm water. The building now contains a reception, a seminar room, a kitchen, many CAD workplaces, and offices for school startups. This is where the robotics club will take place, and students will receive their certificates.

The Space Hotel (Habitat)
For the exchange students there are 29 modern apartments with double or quadruple rooms available on 4 floors. All witch are equipped with wireless Internet and NASA TV. Each room has a sink, bed, table with chairs, a flat-screen TV and cabinet. Students use clean shared bathrooms. For faculty members rooms with private bathrooms are aviable. 

The Space Hotel is popular with tourists and conference visitors coming to Leipzig, during the times when no workshops or seminars are held, as it offers inexpensive and clean accomodation witch can be easily booked online. The earnings are used to support the non-profit services of the school. This way, the Space Hotel has become the most booked hotel of economy class in Leipzig. It is also a popular place for visitors of Leipzig, promoters and international guests. Quite regular VIPs from industry, politics and science can be welcome as guests. Among them have already been Prof. Dr. von Puttkamer, the family of the Sputnik designer Sergey P. Korolev, astronauts, cosmonauts and a Prime Minister.

The Workshop
The workshop has been built from a repurposed garage. It was overhauled, receiving insulated ceilings, walls, and windows. It contains many donated tools and can be used by technically inclined students to practice and build NASA Rovers. 

Available is a complete machine-tool arsenal, a gas welding machine, column drill, grinders, soldering station, awood workshop, and ametal workshop. CNC machines will soon be also available.

The Rocket Garden
The rocket garden surrounds the workshop and contains a barbeque area, a swimming pool, a trampoline, and a moon landing module. Students, teachers, and parents all recommend the garden as the perfect place to spend an afternoon. Kids can go on an adventure by the rocket and use up their energy on the trampoline. A sand pit, fish pond, and led illuminated solar house provide for further enjoyment. The rocket was constructed by students in 2012. It is now illuminated at night by solar energy. The moon lander module was a stage prop and has now been repurposed as a simulator for NASA Rover races.
 

The Parking Lot
The rubble lot provides space for 12 cars and will soon be layered with pavement. Two lawns with flowers and benches allow for a relaxing way to spend time. The extended roof of the building allows for dry walks during even the worst of weather. When there is good weather, breakfast will be served outdoors.
 

The Student Living Area
The student living area contains 21 rooms, organized in 6 apartments. This allows students pursuing a PhD degree to relax and write their theses after completing their Abitur.

The Student Promotion Programs of the Jesco von Puttkamer School

The student promotion programs of the Jesco von Puttkamer school are set up to assist students. Good results and daily check-ins are rewarded graciously. This is achieved through an international network of competitions where students can practice their skills. Great achievements are rewarded with travels to other countries, exchange programs, and language courses. This allows international students to be invited to come and stay in Leipzig and attend German language courses while further developing their scientific backgrounds. German students can expect the same hospitality we provide to international students in similar schools within the 22 member nations.

This year's CAD-CAM projects:
- an electrical gate for the entrance of the neighboring property
- a roof for the main campus
- two special-steel-railings for the institute
- LED lighting for the parking lot
- the restauration of the moon lander model to a Rover-Simulator
- revamping the networking of the school’s solar systems

Projects currently available for pupils and students:
Leipzig: Building and programming robots (AG)
Leipzig: Adding an electric drive train to NASA-Rovers (BELL-Projekt)
Leipzig: Constructing a NASA Rover training simulator
Moskau: NASA Rover Team Russia, led by Catherine Trusheva (16)
La Paz: NASA Rover Team Bolivia, led by Alina S.S. Vinokurova (17)
Neu Delhi: NASA Rover Team India, led by Tec Mantra Labs
Washington DC: NASA Rover Team McKinley, led by Kenneth Lesley

We are also supporting two students for a carrier at NASA in Huntsville, AL, USA.

We also express are thanks and gratitude to the following businesses and individuals for the support and assistance during the restoration of the campus 2016:
Sparkasse Leipzig

Doerffer Sandstrahltechnik GmbH, Leipzig
Dr. Sol Solarsysteme GmbH, Leipzig
Dachdeckermeister Lars Etzrodt, Nordhausen
Jens Barthelmes Stuckateurmeister, Leipzig
Christian Rupprecht Tischlerei & Glaserei, Stollberg/Erzgebirge
Frank Rudolph Malermeister, Leipzig
Klaus Hoffmann Klempnermeister, Baalsdorf
DNC-Dreherei Günter Jakob GmbH & Co. KG, Holzhausen
HOLL GmbH, Markkleeberg
Althaus Galvanik- und Pulverbeschichtungs GmbH
ELG-Bau Leipzig e.G.
Parentin GmbH
Heiterblick Technikzentrum, Leipzig
HKL, Leipzig

renovation projekt:
http://www.spaceeducation.de/de/presse/presse-news/73-news-presse-deutsch/441-jvp-school.html

Solar power station:
http://www.spaceeducation.de/de/praktikum/444-leben-iss.html

competitions:
http://www.spaceeducation.de/de/presse/presse-news/73-news-presse-deutsch/440-jvp-donation.html

history:
http://www.spaceeducation.de/de/presse/presse-news/73-news-presse-deutsch/437-10years-thanks.html

Life on the ISS depends on their energy budget. In addition to small quantities of fuel being transported consuming, primarily supplies the sun all life support systems and aggregates.

The International Space Education Institute modified its power supply with the Jesco von Puttkamer school, the workshops and the Habitat (Space Hotel) on sun. So the young scientists get an idea of ??sustainable energy use.

Since this week the solar power plant was installed on the roof. It is divided into 3 components:

- 30 m² photovoltaic (6.6 kilowatts)
- 20 m² solar thermal (sufficient for 1,200 liters/ 317 gal of hot water per day)
- Mini-CHP (5 kW electric power, 12 kW for hot water)

Thus, in future, the amount of energy used is produced to operate the "Jesco von Puttkamer school" and their departments themselves. Excess electrical power is fed into the network. Electricity consumption during the night will largely be refinanced. On very sunny days, excess heat from the solar thermal energy has to be dissipated. This is fed to a 2000 liter / 530 gal hot water tank for showering and washing. In the transitional seasons even bleigt left some heat for a basic supply of heating the rooms. Excess heat is dissipated in the summer to heat the outdoor pool (38°C / 100°F temperature in the pool are possible).

On cloudy days and in snow adds a mini-cogeneration plant from "Ecopower" the energy-budget in the basement. This consists of a single-cylinder 4-stroke engine and is driven by natural gas. A generator replaces the complete power of the photovoltaic to 5 kW. In addition, it produces a fundamental requirement of 12 kW hot water to recharge the hot water tank and basic operation of the heater. So this powerstation adds 120 kWh electricity and 288 kWh for wamwater per day!

The heating of all buildings on campus takes in the winter months, a natural-gas powered energy-efficiency heating of "Junkers" with a peak power of 100 kW. This benefit is especially important for the heating of the workshops on the Campus. An own subterranean district heating pipe ensures the transport of energy. So the steady weekly technical after-school-activities with students are now also possible in the cold months. Carger for the selfmade NASA-E-Rover and pugs for E-Cars on the Campus´ parking lot are in preperation.

The win with this intelligent system saves circa 400-800 euros (US$ 450-900) / month are used to promote the youth work of the institute and its young scientists. An online monitor published in the house and on the website the result of this captive power plant. So the young scientists who are learning here, their sponsors and the Space-hotel guests are able to see the energy balance of this house. If necessary they can adapt their life and work to the rhythm of the sun and its environment. Similarly the astronauts and cosmonauts living aboard the ISS, are doing the same. The namesake of this school "Prof. Jesco von Puttkamer" was the 1st ISS-director for 14 years long. So this technology is honoring his work and life for young scientists

Thanks to Aizhigit Tabanov (Young Engineer for Aerospace, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) for his cooperation in the realization of the project: (https://www.facebook.com/groups/NASA.summercamp/?fref=ts)

Thanks to Dr. Loeser from the company Dr. SOL Solarsystems in Leipzig (http://www.drsol.de).

more photos:
Ecopower: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceeducation/albums/72157668437730724
Dr Sol: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceeducation/albums/72157672840296296
Assembly: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceeducation/sets/72157673259676046/

It was was a rainy day, the 12th of April 2016 in Huntsville Alabama. It was the "Day of Cosmonautics", the 55th year of Gagarins flight and the 35th year of the first launch of the NASA space shuttle fleet. What for a day! On this day we did not know that we will see you the last day on our earth. Al, Apollo Engineer Al Reisz, an enthusiast for the Space Exploration, was in his bed at the Huntsville Medical Center.

My collegue and judge Tom Hancock (AIAA) said to me at the NASA Roverchallenge: "Ralf, Al want to see you with your international students in the Hospital". So it was a pleashure for me to come with all 17 students what we had with us. They came from Bolivia, India, Russia and Germany.

Al told them a long story about his life, his fight for the future and our responsibility to push their work - together with all visioneers of this world. In this small room was an increddible silence. Everybody was able to crab each of his words and record it into his mind.

Al was an enthusiast also for the youth. He was every year a volountair at the NASA Roverchallenge, supported the young people and counted our "best time" as winning team in 2015. He was never missing a meeting what I made with international students and space engineers, also not with the daughter of the russian chief designer Korolev at 50 years Explorer One or as we honored Prof. Dr. Jesco von Puttkamer (former ISS-Director, Apollo Engineer) with a memorial plaque.

Now, Al passed away in summer 2016, July 24th. So a lot of high experienced people went from us, whitnesses from the pioneers time of spaceflight. It is a big loss. We are sad about his death. But we also are knowing that his conversations will still live in our mind and will guide us into the next future of our exploration. Follow the tracks of the forefathers, with their strong rules and core values. Turn around the comfort zone, change the sofa with your shoes and build bridges instead of walls. The view back from space what Al also made with Apollo 8 - teaches us that we are: one world, one menkind and one community.

Al, you was a fighter to reach the stars. Now you are there. Be shure that the international young generation is wishing you a safe flight!

Album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceeducation/sets/72157668890749063/

Ralf Heckel,
friend and director of
International Space Education Institute

We invite again for NASA SummerCamp. This year the core areas are in designing a new nonpneumatic wheel, as well as a battery-powered NASA Rovers of the 2nd generation. We want to modify the existing NASA rovers for training and build 2 new vehicles. Of course, you work again together with international students from many countries, making internships in some of the more than 100 partner-factories in and around Leipzig. In numerous excursions you will fit your team spirit, body and your skills. Your practice in foreign languages, culture of other countries, to achieve common goals and of course writing experience reports as "NASA Trailblazer" is expanded here. You live in the Space Hotel and eat in a self-organized teamwork. Of course there are days of swimming, barbecues and many shared experiences.

In addition this year, here is the expansion of "Jesco von Puttkamer school". This is to be inaugurated on 09/22/2016. For regional and international young naturalists there will be an international career center with ASA-offers, seminars and internships. You can help us energetically as all other generations before you. Who shows us the most integrity over the summer, will be selected for future Space Education Missions: inOctober for a world tour (India, Russia, Italy, South and North America), gets further deals excursions in Star City to Russia and for NASA Rover challenge in April 2017 the United States.

The expenses for lodging and food amount to 190 euros / week. The program is free in the first 2 weeks characteristic learning phase. Then we recommend you as it can go and whether you will nominated for an international space mission on the way in science. From this moment you will organize in a teamwork your further crowdfunding for the projects and for a career in the premier class space itself. You can represent each of these workshops with school internships and your later Baccalaureate (propaedeutic-work) as well as practical projects of your university.

APPLICATION-FORM

Start: 18.7.2016
End: 31.8.2016 (for college students till end of september 2016)
minimum stay: 1 week 
Age: 12 - 24

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