They designed scientific experiments which had to fit inside a Kinder Egg case and would be exposed to conditions in space similar to those found on the surface of the planet Mars.
Elysium, the second MARSBalloon flight of 2014, was launched at the end of October from a Thales UK site in the Mendip hills with the girls’ experiments on board along with those submitted by 32 other UK schools. A video of the flight that the experiments took can be found on the following link: https://marsballoon.com/elysium-2/
Physics teacher Mr De Britt said: “This project has provided a fantastic opportunity for our students to conduct their own space exploration research; they engaged enthusiastically, imaginatively and practically with the whole process. They created innovative scientific experiments which delivered exciting data for analysis.”
Megan Vandersluis, Year 6, said: ‘I enjoyed learning about how you can test a battery using specialist scientific equipment.’
Isabelle Rowson, Year 6, said: ‘It was so much fun working in the Senior School labs and I was so excited that my application was chosen. It was amazing to send our egg up with the balloon.”
Miranda Hart, Year 6, added: ‘I learnt that just above our atmosphere there are the same conditions as Mars!’
Mr De Britt added: ‘This project demonstrated that, given the right opportunities, girls have valuable contributions to make to scientific domains stereotypically associated with male students. Our girls are definitely space scientists in the making!’