Leading the operations of a (real!) Space mission in elementary school

Take part in an international space mission from the classroom? This will be the experience of students across the United States and at St. John Paul II Elementary School in Bolton, Ontario. Nothing less!

Elementary school students from Bolton, Ont., Will take part in a true international space mission. For nine months, 20 students from the 4^e at the 6^e year ofSt. John Paul II Elementary School The STMSat-1 nanosatellite will be tracked from a mission operations telecentre they built at their facility with the help of Ontario company Canadensys Aerospace.

The satellite, scheduled to launch from the International Space Station on May 11, will take photos of the Earth every 30 seconds and transmit them to a network of mission operations telecentres in schools across the states. -United. The students of St. John Paul II School are the only foreign partners in this project.

STMSat-1 was built by American students at St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington, Virginia; it is the first CubeSat designed, assembled and launched into space by elementary school children. It is expected to be operational within two weeks of launch and remain in orbit for at least nine months.

Most recently, the students had the chance to meet Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, accompanied by MP Ruby Sahota, to discuss the project.

More information can be obtained from STMSat-1 here. (in English)

It is to be continued!

SOURCE: press release from the Canadian Space Agency