A team of students from Tonbridge School have been crowned the UK winners of a European Space Agency competition to build a satellite in a soft drinks can.
‘The Cannoneers’ – Oscar Wright, David Shafirovich, Andrew Lam, Tarrant Ng, Finn Kinsler O’Sullivan and Gabriel Haynes – were announced overall winners of the 2016 CanSat competition at the finals in York and will go on to compete at the European CanSat in Portugal.
In York their satellite was launched from a hot air balloon, but in Portugal it will be released from a rocket.
A CanSat is a simulation of a real satellite, created in miniature and contained in a soft drinks can. The CanSat is then launched into the air on its mission to carry out a scienti?c experiment and achieve a safe landing. The CanSat competition offers a unique opportunity for students to have a ?rst practical experience of a real space project.
As part of their project, ‘The Cannoneers’ also took part in outreach and educational activities at other schools, including Woodlands Primary in Tonbridge, to help pupils learn about space.
