Taking on teams around the world, Toowoomba kids proved themselves at the international level via the Global Space Challenge (a Space Teams Academy program developed by a NASA astronaut)!

One Giant Leap Australia Foundation visited the Garden City to run the virtual space mission for Year 7 & 8 students, hosted by the University of Southern Queensland’s iLAuNCH Trailblazer with support from the Queensland Government, from September 25-30.

A local team came FIRST in the Middle School section and another nabbed SECOND place in the High school section ahead of students from the USA, Canada, Egypt, India, Lebanon, Ukraine, Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands and Germany. A Concordia Lutheran College student also won the Amazing Surface Habitat design award.

iLAuNCH Executive Director Darin Lovett congratulated all involved, commending the students on their hard work and success.

“It was an honour to see the future of Australia’s space workforce in action. We were pleased to support the 32 young aspiring astronauts to take part.”

The annual competition is a global event with students learning through virtual simulations to design a mission to another planet within our solar system. Daily mission training included a one-hour live tutorial with an industry expert on the day’s topic.

Program creator and former NASA astronaut, Dr Gregory Chamitoff (along with other space professionals) addressed the students throughout the week, teaching them all about rockets and space exploration.

“This is the STEM education version of professional mission software and is recognised by NASA itself. Students learn very quickly and teamwork is critical to their mission success”, said Jackie Carpenter, Director of One Giant Leap Australia.

This was also the first time Queensland students have been able to be part of the adventure.

One Giant Leap Australia Foundation is an Australian organisation dedicated to STEM and Space education for young people in Australia.

To learn more visit www.onegiantleapfoundation.com.au/global-space-challenge-scholarship/