The president of Canarias, Fernando Clavijo, together with the Education and Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports advisor, Poli Suárez, have praised the work of the GranSat IV team from the Granadilla de Abona High School (IES) in Tenerife, after being crowned Spain’s champion in the aerospace robotics final of the European Space Agency.
The Canarian team reached the national grand final after winning the fourth edition of the regional CanSat challenge held in April in the municipality of Santa María de Guía on Gran Canaria.
GranSat IV is made up of teacher Félix Jonay Mayoral Gutiérrez, team mentor, with the collaboration of teacher Ricardo Antonio Martín Barrio, and the students: Nerea Risco Alonso, Carlos Cano Rivero, Saúl Guanche Oliva, Miguel Stiven Cárdenas Cosme, Samuel Fuentes González, Fayna Luis Cabrera, Aminata Fall, Almudena Rodríguez Cruz, and Lucía Martín Gárate.
Now, this group of students from Granadilla will travel to Noordwijk (Netherlands) to visit the facilities of the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), where missions for the European Space Agency (ESA) are designed, and where 2,500 aerospace engineers and scientists work. They will also take part in the European-level ‘Space Engineer for a Day’ programme, which will take place from June 15th to 19th, as reported by a statement from the President.
In these competitions, participants are responsible for the design, development, and testing of their respective devices beforehand, and after the launch, they monitor their operation and analyse the data obtained.
For this purpose, a drone raises the devices to a certain height, dropping them with the aid of a small parachute, with the duration of the fall being the only time the students have to collect and analyse the emitted data, aiming to demonstrate the young people’s ability to fulfil the assigned mission.
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CanSat is an initiative of the European Space Agency involving students from all member countries and is organised within the framework of the Programme for the Promotion of Scientific Vocations and Creativity (STEAM) of the Directorate General for Educational Organization, Inclusion, and Innovation of the Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity, and Sports Department of the Government of Canarias.
