Scottish Space School

As this year’s Learning Journey to Houston comes to its end, we would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the 8 pupils who did themselves, their families, schools and the Scottish Space School proud. Such a fantastic group who embraced everything during the week, asked lots of interesting questions and took every opportunity to speak and chat with so many colleagues who gave their time to support the programme and who provided such welcome advice and guidance. Very well done to you all. Please keep in touch and we look forward to seeing many of you at Strathclyde in the future! This photo was taken just before we headed home - the group with our fantastic hosts Hyang and Chuck Lloyd, Joel Montalbano, Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, and his wife Ingeborg.

A final few photos before we head to the airport later this morning. On Wednesday we visited Wood where we heard about their technologies and got to experiment with their vibration techniques and virtual reality tools. Thursday saw us visit Axiom - the first time the Space School has visited here - and hopefully not the last. The visit was followed by an opportunity to chat with astronaut Michael Baker and hear about his background and experience of flying in space. We finished off Thursday with dinner at Villa Capri where we witnessed a beautiful sunset. Friday was shopping followed by a visit to Kemah Boardwalk and the opportunity to wear our Hallowe'en costumes. A good time was had by all. Now we finish our packing and get organised for the long trip home. We will certainly miss Houston and all it has given us this week.

We've had a couple of busy days. Sunday we visited Galveston where we got to dip our toes in the Gulf of Mexico - although some dipped more than their toes! Monday we visited Space Center Houston where we had a private tour which included a visit to the historic Mission Control Centre. We were also given the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of the 747 which was used to transport the Space Shuttle. Tuesday we had a visit to Oceaneering to hear about the work they do and were delighted to meet astronaut Carl Walz. We are definitely making the most of our time in Houston.

It was great to meet so many friends, old and new, at the Welcome Party last night. We are so grateful to stunt pilot Debbie Gary for hosting the group at her home. So many people coming to welcome us to Houston and chat with us about our future hopes and ambitions. Lots of new friendships formed and a good night was had by all. This morning we are heading to Galveston.

Our first full day in Houston started with a spectacular thunderstorm around 3.00-4.00am - the long day travelling must have taken it out of some of the group as they slept through it! Thankfully the weather had improved by the time we set off for the Lone Star Flight Museum where we had the chance to test out the flight simulators - with varying degrees of success! Tonight we are looking forward to the Welcome Party and the opportunity to mingle with friends and colleagues who are coming to welcome us to Houston.

After the long journey, we were delighted to be welcomed by our hosts who gave us goodie bags. Following a quick check-in at the hotel we headed off for some dinner and then to the high school American Football game. A great time was had by all.

Had an issue with wifi yesterday so apologies for the delay in updating everyone! We all arrived at Glasgow Airport on Thursday evening for our flight to Houston yesterday and thankfully we all made it to Houston in one piece. More photos to follow later today as for us it is now breakfast time!

It is with much sadness that the Scottish Space School take this opportunity to pay our deep-felt gratitude and respect to our dear colleague Walter Galbraith who has recently passed away. As many of you will know, Walter was heavily involved in the delivery of the programme at Strathclyde since the first summer school in 2004 and has encouraged, supported and mentored many school pupils and students over the years. His passing is a huge loss to the programme and to the University and we send our sincere condolences to his family and friends at this sad time. This photograph was taken at the final dinner for the 2025 summer school to recognise Walter’s significant contributions and his family have kindly agreed to us posting this in his memory.