Aim higher: Soda bottles fly through the air at water rocket competition

The contest held on Wednesday was part of Suparco's Space Week celebrations.


At Suparco's water rocket competition on Wednesday, students were supposed to make rockets propelled by water out of two-litre soda bottles. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

KARACHI: The cloudy day on Wednesday proved to be a blessing for the school children as they prepared and fired water rockets into the air.

Several two-litre soda bottles flew through the air as various teams launched their improvised rockets one after the other  aiming to go higher and higher than the other. Aiming to develop students' interest in aeronautics, the national space agency, officially known as the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), organised a water rocket competition, as part of its week-long activities to celebrate the annual World Space Week 2013.

Water rockets were first introduced in Pakistan in 2007 and have become a regular feature of the space week, organised by the national space agency's Institute of Technical Training. This year, the competition was held between 27 public and private school teams at Suparco headquarters, where enthusiastic kids were all set to launch their rockets.

"We are expected to prepare model rockets with the help of two-litre soda bottles in which water is shot backwards to provide propulsion as an alternative to the fuel in a real rocket," explained Zeeshan Ahmed, a class 10 student at Habib Public School and one of the contestants, who appeared confident that he would successfully land his rocket closer to the target.

The model rockets were then to be launched as soon as the participant's name was called. The rockets were supposed to fly over 80 metres and land as close to the target as possible. "Such opportunities make our knowledge of physics fun and applicable while the certificate of participation will definitely be a positive addition to my academic credentials," added Zeeshan.

The participants had already received training by their teachers at their respective schools. Earlier, training workshops for the school teachers were held by Suparco in 10 major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Gilgit, Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Multan and Faisalabad.

Across the world, water rockets are a well-known medium to teach students about the principles of flight physics or aeronautics, commented Zeeshan's mentor, Abdul Wasiq Salim. In his opinion, Suparco's initiative was a great opportunity for the students to learn these principles practically.

The competition was won by Sadequain Foundation School's Muhammad Hamza Khan, followed by Muhammad Qasim from Al Zahran Educational System School. Meanwhile, a consolation prize was awarded to Junaid Ahmed Kalwar from Paradise Special Education Centre for the Blind and Deaf.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2013.

COMMENTS (1)

Visibly Invisible | 10 years ago | Reply

I hope they picked up the soda bottles afterward for proper recycling.

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