Each group had completed a project featuring an aspect of space exploration in Brazil.

Guest Speakers included NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian ...

...and former Shuttle Astronaut and present head of the Commercial Space Center at the University of Alabama, Dr. Larry Delucas (center) gave a thrill to the students and teachers.

Students and teachers also got to visit the exhibits in the Commercial Space Workshop and talked with Space Professionals like David Whitton (below) from MacDonald Dettwiler Space and Advanced Robotics Ltd. (They are doing all of the robotics on the Space Station)

Teachers and students conducted activities from SISC's ISS Curriculum, which was translated into Portuguese, including this Rocket Car activity in which each student built their own balloon powered Rocket Car.

Students received instruction on the principles of rocketry and then were able to apply those theories through the construction of their own cars.

As an incentive, we decided to hold a race to see which car would go the farthest, this led to a lot of innovation and perspiration as students tweaked with their design.

The finalist in the big race prepare to see whose application of rocketry theory will win them their prize, Astronaut Ice Cream for Lunch!

Professor Fernando Stancato of the University Norte do Parana in Brazil described and showed videos of the rockets he and his students build and launch.

Professor Stancato brought a real rocket and showed it to the students and teachers.

Students were given a treat when they were told that they could help pack the recovery parachute and that we would be launching the parachute portion of a typical flight outside the conference center!

Professor Stancato readies the wires and safety procedures before test firing the rocket's recovery system.

Now that the students had seen how real rockets work it was time for them to build their own baking powder and water-powered rockets to test fly!

Each group launched and re-launched to see what height they could achieve.

There were many successes and failures, and a few messy surprises, but everyone had fun and learned the challenges of building a rocket.

Cleaning up after an unplanned "launch incident" is not supposed to be this fun!

Next each group learned about the microgravity environments, and the challenges of training for work in space by trying their hands at creating stable platforms within a small scale neutral buoyancy tank.

Each group had their own frustration and exhilaration's!

Next, NASA Associate Administrator Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian talked to the students and teachers about how Space can be used to track and prevent disease on Earth, including diseases that are rampant in Brazil.

After the lecture, Dr. Nicogossian invited a student from each group up to become an "astronaut" and take an image of Earth that they would later see on the computer and learn how to interpret it and search for disease.

SISC Vice President Irena Slage guides students through the "Disease Tracking from Space" simulation.