CanSat Success for Budding Scientists

Huge congratulations to a team of 12 Year 12 students who have made it through to the National Finals of the European Space Agency’s CanSat Competition. This is a hugely exciting and challenging competition in which students must design and build a working satellite incorporating power, sensors and a communication system all within the volume and shape of a soft drink can.

A huge amount of work has gone into creating their CanSat which, as part of the final judging criteria, must also include a parachute to ensure it survives landing after launch and it must also carry out scientific experiments and transmit in-flight data to an Earth-based computer. They are responsible for selecting the mission objectives, designing the CanSat, integrating the components, testing, preparing for launch and then analysing the data.

To share the news with younger pupils, the team delighted the Lower School this week, dropping a parachute from the balcony of the MCT during assembly to rapturous applause.

The team also announced a competition in which Lower School pupils can submit entries to decide the name of their CanSat, which they will be taking with them to the finals on 23 June.

The team told Lower School pupil about the physics, coding and creative design which they have worked so hard on to perfect.

One of their aims, they said, was to make their CanSat, which was originally a Monster drinks can, as environmentally friendly as possible. They have chosen measure dust in the air to analyse pollution levels. It will also look at if it is under heavy forces or not and will include a GPS tracker.

We wish the team all the very best with the National Finals and we look forward to discovering the winning name from Lower School pupils’ suggestions!