Youth Exploring Science together with Dr Randall Perry of Imperial College invite you to compete amongst teams from around the world in a competition at NASA Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.

The competition puts students (ages 14-18 yrs) in the shoes of aerospace industry engineers designing a city in space that will be a home for over 10,000 people. Student engineers demonstrate creativity, technical competence, management skills, environmental knowledge, space, teamwork, and presentation techniques to conquer the problems inherent in siting and designing a Space Settlement (aka Space Colony).

When an organization or government wishes to create a new space project, they don’t do it themselves: they hire someone. How do they know who to hire? They issue a “Request for Proposal” which is precisely what it sounds like: a plea for companies to propose a solution to their problem. Relevant companies research the problem, design solutions, and then create a document that is their proposal for creating or building the “big new space project”. The government (or whoever) then chooses one of the proposals and grants that organization a “contract” to implement their solution. These contracts often run into billions of dollars.

Each year the competition organisers develop a new design concept with its own special requirements. The chosen teams at NASA in the USA will work together to create a 40-page report that addresses the issues and communicates their ideas and designs. Just as in industry, competing teams submit designs in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP), which describes exactly what the customer wants to see in the design.

The school group (maximum 12 pupils and two teachers) that is chosen to represent the UK is guaranteed a place.   Top UK entries will be invited to the UK qualifying competition that will be run in May 2010 and the successful teams will then prepare for the main International competition in August 2010 at the Johnson Space Centre in Texas USA

Qualifying Competition teams in general are 12 students each, with an adult advisor/educator. Teams are advised to select members with diverse experiences and/or interests; successful designs balance structural integrity, operating efficiency, use of computers and robotics, and pleasant living conditions. Prior Competitions have shown that it will also be helpful to have at least one good artist and/or one good writer on your team.

UK Space Competition.

This competition is a quailifler for UK and European teams for the USA Final.  Teams have a chance to pitch their skills and practice their working procedures against each other knowing that the top teams will earn themselves a place in the USA.  The competition will be judged by Dr Randall Perry, Youth Exploring Science, Imperial College and the British National Space Centre.

The USA Competition

This competition takes place in a simulated future year. Technological advancements beyond the current state of the art have accrued. The judges will accept these new methods but in your design these new technologies must be fully justified (for example, if you plan to use `warp drive’, you must explain how it is constructed).

The basic products, vehicles, and structures described for this competition must be technically possible within the timeframes. They do, however, represent ambitious technical, economic, and political commitments. Some will never happen, some will. Some are projects that Design Competition participants who become engineers will work on during their careers.

Your proposal will be judged by engineers from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Orange County (California) Section. They have experience in the aerospace industry and are familiar with the current state of the art, so please base your design on reasonable interpretations of the level of existing technology defined here, the laws of Physics, and common sense.

Entry

Entry to the competition is open to all education faculties that have students between 14 -18 years of age, please register your interest to apply for the competition by contacting us directly by email at; Yvonne@yescience.org

Also see an example of the “competition tasks“

Find “Tools for teachers” here

The winning company of the 2010 competition is Grumbo Aerospace. The final team to represent the UK in the international competition in Houston, arranged in no particular order, is:

Joseph Dudley – London City Academy
Jonathan McNaught – Pate’s Grammar School
Chris Hall – Pate’s Grammar School
Thomas Ferrer – Pate’s Grammar School
Hannah Holah – Pate’s Grammar School
Duncan Mitchell – Pate’s Grammar School
Adam James – Wallington Grammar School
Connor Thompson – Pate’s Grammar School
Lorretta Grazette – London City Academy
Sam Ackerman – Wallington Grammar School
Becky Follett – London City Academy
Ed Morrish – Pate’s Grammar School
Sammy El-Bahrawy – Wallington Grammar School

With reserves, also in no particular order:

Michael Barradell-Black – Pate’s Grammar School
Vincenzo Franco – Wallington Grammar School
Chris Hodges – Pate’s Grammar School

In conjuction with