• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Irish students to launch rocket from space centre in Florida

Posted on: Tuesday, 12 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

At 3 p.m. today, weather permitting, Irish university students will launch a rocket from Florida, the first educational team from any country to send a rocket from the space centre at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket will carry a payload of scientific instruments built by the students which will gather meteorological data.

The rocket launch is the highlight of six weeks of classroom and practical work by the students. The six women and six men were chosen by Florida Space Institute from a shortlist put forward by their universities.

The institute is a grouping of more than 20 US universities and research bodies.

The 12 students are the first to participate in the Discover Science programme, a collaboration between FS, the Kennedy Space Centre and the Florida Space Institute.

Funded by FS and costing E160,000, the Irish programme is part of a Government initiative designed to help reverse the decline in the number of students studying science and engineering.

It aims to raise awareness of science and to attract students to science and technology careers, according to Ms Catriona White, corporate affairs manager at FS. The costs of the rocket and the payload are being met by the American partners.

The 12-foot high Super Loki 3 rocket will travel at over 3,000 m.p.h. It will reach a height of 70 miles, 20 miles above the official designated boundary to space.

The rocket will then fall back to earth and be recovered from the sea. The Irish students will analyse the data relayed back from their instruments during the short flight.

The feedback from the students had been "very, very positive", said Ms White. "They are very enthusiastic about the benefits they've gained and want to inspire other students and tell them about the future they can have."

The students are being trained by some of the world's leading specialists in space science, including shuttle astronauts, according to FS.

Not only is the technology relevant to the aerospace industry, said Ms White, but it also has many parallels with that used in everyday life, including air conditioning systems and equipment used by disabled people.

NASA had been very pleased with this group of students, who are "hopefully opening doors" for future groups of Irish students, Ms White said.

If bad weather delays the flight, alternative launch windows are available over the next few days.

Andrew Read is a British Association for the Advancement of Science Media Fellow on placement at The Irish Times

More News in this Category