Space Teams Academy

The first day of the space teams programme run by One Giant Leap was packed with interesting activities. When we arrived, we were put into teams and had a fun icebreaker session. We met our hosts, Jenna and James, and made our team name. My team was called Nova Horizon.

Then we got straight into it. We learnt a lot about planets and our solar system. Then, after a quick morning tea, we did a ‘Planet Builder’. This is a simulation that allows you to build your own hypothetical planet. It was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed thinking up my own planet, ‘Varina’. Then, we got to listen to a real-life astronaut talk about his experience of space. Dr Greg Chamitoff has been to space more than once. He was on Expedition 18 in 2008 and another 15 days as part of STS-134 in 2011. It was inspiring to listen to him talk about his amazing experiences in space. He told us about how he loved space as a child and how that fuelled his passion to become an astronaut. We also heard about the tough training he had to go through. He recounted having to sit in a small spherical capsule without any light. I don’t think I would have lasted long in such a capsule, but Mr Chamitoff did in order to pursue his dreams.

Then we designed our mission patches. A mission patch is given to astronauts for each mission. My design had a black hole to signify the unknown, a spacecraft next to it to show that we will discover the unknown, and a lot of stars to signify the wonder of space. The colours in the design represent our galaxy, the Milky Way.

On the 2nd day we learnt about spacecraft. We attempted to make our own spacecraft that can support a mission to the imaginary planet ‘Vulcan’. The spacecraft is to be sustainable, energy efficient, and good for scientific research, and it should be fit for astronauts to live in. We looked at different types of fuel for our engine. We learnt about how kerosene engines are most common for rocket ships nowadays. But we also looked at ‘metallic hydrogen tanks and how they would be more energy efficient’, but sadly ‘metallic hydrogen’ (hydrogen in its solid form) is not to be mass-produced yet, so we will not be seeing it in real rockets. However, in this rocket simulation, this fuel source was available (and a favourite).

Then after some morning tea, we went on to trajectory design. That is planning the trajectory of your spaceship. We learnt how to plan an orbital trajectory to the planet ‘Vulcan’. I had a lot of fun trying to get to the planet even though in the first few tries I was not able to leave my orbit around Earth. After some time, I got the hang of it and successfully started to orbit Vulcan .

Then after lunch we got to visit a planetarium where we got to witness the night sky in the middle of the day without pollution, clouds or any other hindrances. We entered what looked like a big balloon that had the starry sky projected on all the walls around us. It was amazing to be able to see the constellations mapped out in front of us. We managed to see the sky all the way to March 2026! We watched a video on solar maxims, which is when the sun is the most prone to solar flares. Here on Earth, our magnetic field prevents us from facing the full impacts of solar flares, but because of climate change, the effects are worse than before.

After that we had some time to catch up on the previous three projects. Then went to a meeting with JPL scientist Todd Barber. He was on call all the way from France. He talked about his job and the fun things he got to do working for JPL. He designed the orbital trajectory of multiple missions, including the Voyager missions that are now at the very edge or past our solar system. It was so cool to hear how his team made the Perseverance rover, which included JPL in Morse code on the wheels of the rover.

On the 3rd day we learnt about orbital descent, how to land your plane on the Vulcan surface, which was super challenging. Then we heard from Luke Barns, a university professor at Western Sydney University. He came and talked to us about black holes. He told us about how inside a black hole the theory is that everything will become stretched. So Cooper from Interstellar would have no chance. He also told us that light gets warped around a black hole, and that is what gives it its rings. I was fascinated by the depth of his speech, and it has given me a more accurate representation of black holes.

On the 4th day we went and learnt about habitat construction. We studied what we would need in the habitat on Vulcan. It was very similar to the spacecraft builder in that we were judged on the sustainability of the habitat, energy efficiency, and scientific capabilities, as well as making sure it is fit for living.

On the 5th and final day, we had so much fun doing surface operation, in which we were able to search the surface of the planet Vulcan, looking for things like water, geothermal energy and methane. It was fun to try and look for these resources on an unknown planet.

It was so much fun to try out all the simulations and inspiring to hear the speakers talk. Over all it was a educational fun experience. I loved it so much that I was very sad when the program ended. I made friends and experienced things I would not have dreamed of. I am very thankful for space teams academy for allowing me to partake in such wonder.

Sasha Anandh | Year 7