Space Design Competition

International Space Design

Competition

MR TIM KEMP

At the start of Term 3, a team of students in Years 10-12, represented Australia at the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC). After winning the Australian Space Design Competition (ASDC) in January, St Aidan’s was invited to participate in the international competition along with students from the USA, India, the United Kingdom, China and Latin America.

This year’s competition, hosted at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was a hybrid event with some teams attending in person and others, including St Aidan’s, participating online. As well as navigating various communication challenges, the girls also had to work through cultural differences and manage their own ability to work through the night on Florida time.

The three-day event was launched this year with a celebration attended by ELT, ASDC alumnae and parents, highlighting our success in the competition over the past 15 years. Over this time, St Aidan’s is the only school that has participated in every Australian final. 2022 also marks the 5th time that St Aidan’s has qualified for the international competition.

After an exhausting weekend of intense collaboration, the team was proud of the work they completed to produce a proposal for a space settlement on the planet Mercury. Congratulations to Year 10 student Zoe Wang who was awarded the prestigious Dick Edward Award for her leadership demonstrated throughout the weekend.

Our Space Design team, under the guidance of CEO Olivia Allison, has recently submitted their qualifying entry for the 2023 ASDC competition and we look forward to continued success in the years to come.