The two were the youngest and the first Jordanians to participate in this program which took place from 24 June - 23 August 2019.
The Space Studies Program (SSP) is a graduate level professional development program conducted by ISU since 1988. The curriculum covers the principal space and related fields, including policy, law, business, management, humanities, life sciences, engineering, physical sciences and space applications.
The SSP19 program included 127 students from 37 nationalities. The program is the result of international partnership of space agencies, most notably NASA and ESA, and conducted under the supervision of experts in various space-related fields.
The program consists of 3 phases; core lecture series, departmental activities, and team projects. In the team project phase, the two students took part in a project dubbed APIS "Applications and Potentials of Intelligent Swarms", which aimed to strategically analyze the capabilities of satellite swarms.
The APIS project, according to the team's final report, exploits this indispensable opportunity within the context of space, and demonstrates the value of satellite swarm technology. In particular, we propose its use in a future heliophysics mission to understand the magnetosphere and its effects on Earth and human society.
The two students applied for the program with support and guidance from the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at the University.