'Dream come true' for young GTA students controlling moon rover in simulated space mission
A group of Grade 6 students in Mississauga put their heads together for a simulated space mission where they remote controlled a rover to find ice on the moon.
“It feels really good,” said Aubrey Smale, who acted as a rover heath monitor during the mission. “When I was really little, I wanted to do stuff like this and it’s like a dream come true.”
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The students attend Lisgar Middle School and are the youngest group to take part in a national space competition dubbed the “Lunar Rover Research Challenge.”
The goal of the simulation is to find ice, and therefore water, on the moon, just like real scientists. The difference is that these students control their rover in Stratford, Ont. with their classroom acting as mission control.
“I feel like ‘Oh My God. I can’t believe I’m a part of the space mission,” said payload operator Nandan Namburi.
The classroom has been set up to divide students into groups, each with a speciality critical to the mission.
Some students plan the rover’s route, others remote-control the machine, while teams keep checking to make sure the rover is working properly and gather vital information about everything from temperature to craters.
“It’s hard, but it’s very exciting and stressful at the same time. So we really enjoy it,” said Prisha Agarwal, one of the rover drivers.
The competition is run through the charity Let’s Talk Science, Canadensys Aerospace Corporation and Avalon Space, with support from the Canadian Space.
In all, more than 16,000 youths took part.
“Amazing experience,” said Jack Suleman, one of the navigators. “Hard work pays off. All the time we spent making the applications, and now we reap the benefits.”
Students at Lisgar Middle School in Mississauga, Ont. participate in the Lunar Rover Research Challenge on Jan. 16, 2024.
Many of these students already had an interest in space prior to winning the competition and are part of Peel District School Board’s international business and technology program.
The challenge is an exercise full of learning and fun.
“It’s loud, it’s stressful and that’s exactly what we want, it’s a space mission right?” said Leah Davis-Purcell, a mission systems and outreach specialist with Avalon Space.
“The main point of it is communication, using a decision making process, using the logic, the shadows, the sun, where the ice would be.”
It took two hours for the students to complete the mission.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.