An initiative has been unveiled that invites science students to design experiments that can be performed in space.
The two winning experiments will be sent via rocket to the International Space Station, where they will be performed and live-streamed on YouTube.
This is according to Zahaan Bharmal, director of European marketing for Google, who says the YouTube Space Lab initiative aims to create the “world's largest, coolest classroom in space”.
The initiative, unveiled on Monday, is a partnership between YouTube and Lenovo, in co-operation with Space Adventures and space agencies NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
According to Mike Schmedlen, director of Worldwide Education at Lenovo, the competition gives students an unprecedented level of access to the top minds in the field, as well as to world-leading space organisations. He said research has shown that the more students feel engaged in learning, the more they are interested in disciplines like science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Schmedlen added that in order to enable teachers to use Space Lab in the classroom, Lenovo, in partnership with the North West University, created lesson plans and rubrics for schools to use, which can be found on the Lenovo Space Lab Web site.
Regina Blue, lead, Mission Operations Reconfiguration at NASAJohnson Space Centre, said NASA was excited about the initiative. She added that the ability for students to develop and experiment from theory to practical experience “will develop the key creative and analytical abilities they will need as future members of the STEM workforce”.
Entries
YouTube.com/SpaceLab from now until 3 December. These will be judged by a panel, which includes professor Stephen Hawking, Cirque du Soleil's founder Guy Lalibert'e, as well as representatives from NASA, ESA and JAXA. The top 60 finalists (20 from each region) will be announced on 3 January 2012, after which judging and public voting will commence to select six regional finalists.
Entrants may submit up to three experiments in one of two scientific disciplines: physics or biology. Students may enter either alone or in groups of up to three. Entries should be in the form of a video that either explains or demonstrates the experiment, and includes an experiment question, a hypothesis, an explanation of the methods used to conduct the experiment, and the expected results.
Winnings
Six regional finalists will be flown to the US in March 2012, where one winner will be selected from each category. The winning experiments will be live-streamed from space. The finalists will take a zero gravity flight and receive a Lenovo IdeaPad laptop. The winners will also get to choose between two prizes.
The first option is a trip to Tokyo, Japan, to tour the JAXA facilities and watch the rocket carrying the experiments take off. Alternatively, once they are 18, they can choose to receive an astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training facility for Russian cosmonauts.
For more information, click here.
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