the odysseus contest -...

Odysseus contest Press release - 04/06/13

PRESS RELEASE

The Odysseus contest reveals the next generation of scientists

Students from all over Europe demonstrated their interest in science during the Odysseus contest.

They met the 17th and 18th April 2013 in SpaceExpo (Noordwijk, the Netherlands) during the final award ceremony.

Over 430 high school students from 19 European countries participated in the Odysseus Contest, organiser from July 2011 through April 2013. After one national and one international evaluation round, 5 teams were selected as laureates of the contest. The winning students and their coaches were invited to visit the astronaut-training center in Cologne, Germany and to attend the awards ceremony and event at Space Expo, the museum of ESA ESTEC based in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The students enjoyed participating in the contest and became ambassadors to inspire other students to take part in science education projects and initiatives.

The Odysseus contest challenged students between the ages of14 and 18 years old age from all EU countries, and beyond, to develop a project on the theme of space exploration, using their knowledge, creativity and critical thinking. Students formed teams of 2 to 5 members, with a teacher as a coach and prepared a project in one of the contest’s categories: i) Solar System, ii) Spaceship – global cooperation and iii) Co-evolution of life. The contest opened in July 2012 to February 2013.

All entries was assessed and scored on scientific knowledge, practical implementation and creativity by highly experienced evaluators. The final winners (one in each category, one public favourite and one from non-EU country) was selected and won a once-in-a-lifetime educational experience in the astronaut training centre in Cologne and attended the award ceremony at Space Expo in the Netherlands, where they received their prizes.

The contest was co-organised by Ellinogermaniki Agogi, the European Physical Society, Signosis and Space Expo, financed by a grant from the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme.

NUMBERS of the ODYSSEUS contest How many countries were enrolled: 17 How many teams submitted a project: 124 How many were the students submitted a project: 438 How many were the coaches submitted a project: 121

Table of content:

The Odysseus contest ......................................... 1

Description of the winning projects: - lLost team (Slovakia) .................................. 2 - Exoplants team (Greece) .............................. 3 - Bay House School team (United Kingdom) .... 4 - Strado Sphere team (Norway) ...................... 5 - Orion IMS team (Romania) ........................... 6

Moments from the award ceremony .................... 7

Contact: Bénédicte Huchet mail: [email protected] phone: +33 389 329 385

More information: http://www.odysseus-contest.eu


lLost team Gymnasium Hubeneho of Bratislava, Slovakia

Project: "An Abundance Comparison and Distribution of C, S, O and noble gasses He, Ar and Ne

in the Atmosphere of Jupiter"

The Ilost team was created in October 2012 after the group met in the Euro Space Center, where they attended astronaut training. It was the Expedition Mars contest that got them interested in cosmonautics and after the end of their stay in ESC, they decided to enter another competition related to space.

After endless treadmill of discussions about the topic, they finally agreed on the solar system. Since the Jupiter is sufficiently well observable and has always fascinated them in certain way without any reason, they have decided to focus on this target.

The project aimed to determine the distribution of helium and heavy elements C, S, O, Ar and Ne known to be present the atmosphere of Jupiter. Through the observations made on particular wavelength scales the team created distribution maps and flux profiles demonstrating the amount of particular element on the latitude axis from south to north. The results show that the amount of helium utterly exceeds all the other elements and is present almost in all regions of the atmosphere. On the other hand, the more unusual elements including noble gases show up to be present only in certain specific latitudes and based on the comparison of distribution profiles, their location is considered highly irregular and unique.

"Our research gave us much experience, knowledge and fun."

Michaela Brchnelova

Valentina Cepcova

Marek Holiencin

Roman Sekej

Coach: Ms Lucia Bartozelova


Exoplants team Pelopium Lyceum, Greece

Project: "What colour would plants have on another planet?"

The Exoplants team left their experimental data lead them to new questions and new answers, and so on. For a few months they worked really hard, collecting all experimental data, searching in the bibliography, writing, correcting and repeating our measurements.

Their future plans are mainly concerning the improvement of their experiment. Their main question about the colour of the flowers on another planet can be approached by new experiments. So, they are planning these experiments. They want to extend their studies to other fields of Science as Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy. The team has some proposals for cooperation with other schools in their area and they are planning some interesting research approaches.

In the not distant future, man will seek to establish colonies on planets of our solar system or other stellar systems. As soon as the man settled on another planet, he will be forced to ensure the necessary for living: oxygen, water and food, so cultivate plants. Plants as producers are organisms that perform the process of photosynthesis, i.e. bind the luminous energy and produce glucose and carbohydrates. What happens though on a planet without enough light? What happens to a planet that revolves around a star that radiates in the Red or the blue? Why the leaves of plants, where photosynthesis becomes, are green? Are they green on any other planet?" to answer all these questions they studied the chlorophyll. They studied the growth of plants under radiation of different wavelengths, as well as in conditions of limited or poor lighting. Finally, they studied the colours of "alien" plants in the depths of the oceans.

"The Odysseus Contest was a unique opportunity to enforce our willing to learn. It was really a magical trip

to space exploration via research and inquiry based methods that continues."

Efstathios Biritis

Antigoni Georgiopoulou

Dimitra Koufi

Eleni Chrysikopoulou

Ioannis Kakalis

Coach: Mr. Ioannis Chiotelis


Bay House School team Bay House School, United Kingdom

Project: "INTERcore - INTERnational Comet Observer and REsearcher"

Choosing our theme was the first thing we did because we wanted to be clear and focused from the start; we chose Spaceship-Global cooperation because it was the area where we had the most interest and we liked the sort of project it potentially allowed us to do. Ellen had the idea of choosing Comet S1 2012/ISON before we started because it is passing in the near future and we felt that it fitted our project well.

“Our coach provided vital help in the project. He made sure we were organised from the beginning and really made sure we kept to time and pushed us to get ahead, he also helped with parts of the science aspects in our project. Additionally, our maths teacher was of great help as she kindly spent many hours working with us; giving us advice on how to use the different equations. Subsequently we learned various new areas of maths, physics and chemistry.

The aim of the project was to visit a comet and, using a probe analyse it for any evidence that comets could have brought the key building blocks of life to earth.

The topics were:

• Global co-operation: How different nations could contribute to the construction of the spacecraft, probe and its control.

• Research of comets, with extra focus on comet 2012 S1 • Design of the probe, and how they will be controlled and monitored • Decision on the lifting module required

The main conclusion was where such a mission would be possible and answers the aims above in detail, however we would not be able to answer our hypothesis unless it was actual mission was carried out.”

"The contest really helped to build our ability to work as a team and to a deadline; skills that could

prove extremely useful in future."

Samuel Thompson

Jack Marshall

Daniel Ellis

Ellen Watts

Jack Turner

Coach: Mr. Ian Lowther


Strado Sphere team Farsund Kristne GrunnSkole, Norway

Project: "STRADO-SPHERE! An exploration of the effects of extreme altitude on the harmonics of vibrating metal

wires from a miniature violin."

On December 6, 2012 Team Farsund launched a high altitude balloon to 30 km in the upper stratosphere to measure the effect of extreme altitude on the properties of vibrating metal wire in a miniature Stradovarius violin in an investigation of these high polar winds.

Our findings indicate dramatic changes at 58 degrees of latitude at 27 kilometres altitude. Because the location of the polar jet stream is generally accepted at 60 degrees latitude our findings at the lower latitude may indicate a shifting south of this particular current.

The highlight of the project was a series of three special concerts created around the balloon video. Led by the popular physicist and educator Andreas Wahl our violin video highlighted a concert called SVINGNINGER by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on January 19, 2013. Over 5000 fifth grade students and adults were captivated by an electrifying performance of Gustav Holst's Jupiter in the Oslo Concert Hall during these three concerts.

“While our violin ascended up through the clouds the orchestra captivated the audience with a rousing musical performance of Holst's Jupiter Opus 32,The Bringer of Jollity. The concert culminated with the cymbals crashing and the audience standing in a long round of applause as the violin reached it's zenith.

We seek to motivate fellow students globally to cooperate and work together in this wonderful and exciting world of near space exploration.

The projects primary mission was to discover the effect of extreme altitude on the characteristics of the audio captured during the launch and the violin's ascent to 30 kilometers in the stratosphere. Discovering the location of the polar winds in the stratosphere particularly in the Arctic region is important in understanding the impact of global warming and its effect on the speed and direction of these high currents. Project Strado-Sphere discovered interesting harmonics at 27 km in the stratosphere over Norway. We believe we have discovered a relatively simple method to detect the polar jet stream in the high polar winds above Norway. “

"It has been our most exciting and rewarding project."

Christoffer Gundersen

Svein Eirik Haaland

Jonathan Harbaak

Coach: Mr. Per Veraas


Orion IMS team Tudor Vianu National High School of Computer Science, Romania Project: "Orion Innovative Modular Settlement"

Through this project the ambition of the Orion team had a real coverage and that was to embody all their dreams regarding space exploration. After days of exchanging ideas, exhaustively searching for information, and meticulously making other adjustments they finally succeeded to make a cohesive project, to leave all incongruous data apart and to place all the elements in such a way that they would tell a consistent, homogeneous story.

This project perfectly suited the members of the team because it gave them the opportunity to express their passion for Physics, Astronomy, Computer Science, Biology and Chemistry.

The students would like to thank Ms. Stoica, the coordinating teacher, for the help she gave them as well as their parents for their unconditional support.

Mars, the red planet, raised hundreds of questions since its discovery and, therefore, inspired the Orion team to find out more about it. From their point of view, building a space settlement around Mars will not only help us sustain the present, but also prepare for the future. They identified several basic needs, which must be satisfied in order to provide a decent living for our inhabitants. These crucial areas will be heavily regulated, in order to maintain a safe environment. The project outlined a way to space exploration, which will lead human to new discoveries and to a new way of living.

"While looking at the star filled sky and thinking about the fact that people alleys migrated to find better life

conditions, we started dreaming of space colonization. This was the setting stone of our project."

Cristian Zaharia

Horia Clement

Ioana Bica

Matei Militaru

Stefan Gramatovici

Coach: Ms Ioana Stoica


Moments from the award ceremony

Odysseus contest winning teams during the award ceremony © D.Lee/EPS

Odysseus contest trophies © D.Lee/EPS

Specific pictures of winning teams during the award ceremony can be asked to Bénédicte Huchet ([email protected]).

The portraits of the Odysseus contest laureates (see “Description of the winning projects” – page 2 to 6) can be used when attributed to © Odysseus Contest.

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