Keeping it Sub Orbital

Its been about a year since I last updated this blog ,and although my great space adventure is progressing faster than ever, I feel that I need to give an in-between overview of the short space adventures ahead of me and of what's going on with me.
As I was thinking about this blog entry I went over the things I wrote, the ideas I had and the concepts I learned last summer and I was hit by a rush of nostalgia; attending the SSP helped me understand that basically everything is possible and that the motto "reach high" has to be my way to live.

After coming back from the 2014 International Space University Space Studies Program in Montreal I had a great chance of going back to Canada for the SGC14, a 3 day congress organized by the Space Generation Advisory Council which included activities and discussions about up-to-date space related issues. The purpose of my trip to Toronto was to familiarize myself with SGAC and the SGC as I have become the National Point of Contact in Israel for the SGAC. And as such I have a role in organizing the SGC15 set to be held in Jerusalem on October 8-10 2015. The trip to Toronto for SGC14 was a blast, it happened about six weeks after coming back from Montreal and the 3 day event was a great reminder of all the experiences I had during SSP14 together with the opportunity of meeting more spacies just like me (and the ISU community).

SGC15 logo, I had some role in the creative work

The SPP de-orbiting feelings were strongest when I finally came back home after Toronto (and a short trip to Germany); while trying to get myself prepared for the 2014-15 school year as a masters student in Ben Gurion University I understood (with some help from external circumstances) that a space related MSc in mechanical engineering is just not good enough for me and that if I want do work on real space engineering I would have to go back to the Technion where it really happens in Israel. Given that I moved to Be'er Sheva for love this understanding was very difficult, it meant having to find a way to keep a healthy relationship while pushing as hard as possible in my studies, and do all of this with a 200 km gap between my two passions.
So I went back to the Technion. I am very fortunate to get to work under the supervision of Prof. Pini Gurfil. the head of the Technion's Space Research Institute. My research involves using relative satellite motion dynamics to estimate the position, velocity and physical properties of  some type of space debris and I hope to finish my master thesis by spring of 2016.
As the school year progressed the balance I tried to keep between Be'er Sheva and Haifa got more difficult, this eventually led to the ending of my relationship. I must admit I wasn't the one who made the decision, but I understand it and I am able to see the benefits for me from it. With nothing to look for in the middle of the desert I moved to Haifa full time (I think my workout routine was the greatest beneficiary form this move).
And now, back to space; so after a somewhat (non-spacie) last year, and a super great (very spacie) summer of 2014, this past year has been filled with work on things at 600km+ altitudes. In addition to the work on SGC15 and my research, I have also joined the SSP16 organizing team. We are now laying out the host site content and activities for the program and I hope to also become the TA for the Big Data Team Project. I am also co-writing a paper on global policies for Near Earth Objects threats to be presented at the International Astronautical Congress also set to be held in Jerusalem this October (the IAC and SGC are linked events). I was approached by Jim Burke a JPL retiree and a great supporter of ISU & SGAC to help with some technical issues in the paper, it requires weekend research, but at least it's a cool subject to write about.
As mentioned, I hope to finish my research for the masters in time for the SSP, and then I would very much like to start a PhD in the US in one of the leading astrodynamics/satellite control research teams (I'm free for university recommendations).
I hope I'll be a bit more attentive to this blog in this coming year with all the activities ahead.

The SSP16 poster, I didn't have any role in the creative work