UAH welcomes international mix of space weather camp students to Huntsville

An international mix of students and advisors participating in the International Space Weather Camp (ISWC) internship were welcomed to the United States and Huntsville at a dinner at Rhythm on Monroe on Sunday, July 9.

The students from South Africa, Germany and the Southeastern U.S. had arrived Saturday, July 8, from South Africa, where they had spent two weeks working with space weather researchers and doing research projects. Their ISWC research experience continues for another two weeks with experts in the field during selected topics courses at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), where they will be until July 23.

Launched in 2011, ISWC annually provides an opportunity for students to learn about space physics in the context of understanding the influence of the sun on the space and upper atmosphere of the Earth and its related impact on the technological systems and needs of modern society.

It is a partnership between the South African National Space Agency, the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt German Aerospace Center at the University of Rostock and the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research at UAH through the Future Technologies & enabling Plasma Processes (FTPP).

FTPP is a $20 million grant managed at UAH from the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research to transition plasma research into space weather prediction, agricultural, manufacturing, space science and other applications.

The ISWC internship includes lectures, hands-on projects, experiments and excursions as participants learn both the theoretical underpinnings and practical applications of space weather and solar and space physics.