A group of our fantastic STEM enthusiasts took on a challenge of galactic proportions at the weekend, heading all the way to Imperial College London for none other than the UK Space Design Competition National Finals!
They were part of 269 students total who were divided into four teams of seven schools each, tasked with designing and costing a permanently-manned facility (called Astoria) in the asteroid belt 50 years in the future. Astoria would be used to mine minerals from asteroids to be transported back to the inner solar system and to resupply missions to the outer solar system.
Their dedication was just astounding: the team worked on their project and presentation from 8:30am to 8:30pm on Saturday, then for most of the night at the Youth Hostel, before digging up yet more energy to deliver a brilliant presentation to share their final work. Whilst they weren’t overall winners, Nandipa won an individual award for innovative design for her work designing ingenious suits for the astronauts to wear in the zero gravity environment of their space station.
What an out-of-this-world amazing experience this has been for everyone involved! A huge well done to the team for doing such a marvellous job carving their own path to create an excellent final proposal!
