Int’l Space Competition: 14 Lahore schools tussle for place in semifinal

Five will compete against Indian, Bangladeshi teams in July.

LAHORE:

As many as 14 high school teams from Lahore are competing for the 8th Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition to be held in India in February next year.

Only five of these teams will make it to Om Shanti Retreat Centre in Gurgaon, India, to participate in the semi-final round of the International Space Settlement Design Competition. The other countries represented in the Asian semi-finals are India and Bangladesh. October 20 is the last date for submission of proposals for the semi-final round.  The semi-finalists will present their proposals to a panel of judges during a day-long activity at the Om Shanti Retreat Centre.

Two teams from Asia will proceed to the final round to be held in July 2012 at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Johnson Space Centre in Texas, United States. The competition organised by the Foundation Society, United States, has been taking place every year at the Johnson Space Centre for 16 years. The Foundation Society lists NASA - Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, and The Boeing Company, Space and Communications Group, as two main sponsors of the competition. The Asian chapter was founded seven years ago.

All Pakistani teams belong to Lahore. Zaeem Khalid, team leader of the Lahore Grammar School (LGS) Johar Town Campus, said it appeared that the event was not advertised in other cities as it was an opportunity none of the leading high schools in the country would have wanted to let pass.

Of the 14 Pakistani teams competing for the Asian round of the contest nine belong to various LGS branches in the city and one each to Aitcheson College, Beaconhouse School System, Lahore College of Arts and Sciences, Lahore Learning Campus and Learning Alliance. As many as 30 Indian schools have been registered while Bangladesh is represented by only one school.

Each Asian team represents an imaginary aerospace company named Northdonning Heedwell. The company is to submit a proposal for the construction of a human settlement on Mercury, the first planet in the solar system.

The 40-page proposal will cover all aspects of the settlement housing as many as 10,000 humans by 2077. The proposal is to include safety measures against all possible emergencies at the space settlement.

Ibrahim Siddiqui of the BSS team said an important factor to be taken into account was the settlement’s proximity to the Sun. “This means the proposal will be incomplete without proper safeguards against solar radiation,” he said.

Khalid from an LGS team said it was his second attempt at the competition. He said more Pakistani students should be encouraged to take part in similar international competitions. “The NASA contest is very helpful for those aspiring to pursue a career in space technology,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.