Learning from a satellite

If you are a circus clown or a barge skipper, and always on the move, a system called Trapeze may help your children’s schooling.

Sponsored by ESA and based in Belgium, Trapeze demonstrates two-way exchanges with a tutor via a satellite, taking advantage of new technology that allows even mobile users to transmit large volumes of text, data, video, audio or graphics.

Similar technology underpins a fully interactive telematic university course, from the University of Lecce, Italy, as conceived in the ESA-sponsored Modus experiment. In British schools a project called Espresso has used a satellite to feed classroom computers with timely curriculum material. Expect satellite-wise youngsters!