This activity is included within the framework of EELISA, Industrial Design 4 Human and the agents and institutions of the neighborhood/territory ES NUESTRO.
The students themselves tell us what it consisted of:
What is the CanSat?
The CanSat contest has been held every year since the early 2000s and is organized by the European Space Agency. In the 2023 edition we, the Space Girls, 6 students from the I.E.S Cervantes studying 1st year of the International Baccalaureate (Lucía, Sara, Sara, Rebeca, Alicia and Sofía) participated.
To compete we had to build and design a satellite the size of a can together with a parachute that would slow down its fall from approximately 200 meters, in our case launched in a paratraking. Each Cansat had to measure the temperature and pressure according to the requirements in addition to having a secondary mission. We decided as a secondary mission to measure volatile organic compounds and included a camera that took pictures and then transmitted them by radio. A programming which we have achieved with our dedication and sponsors such as Hydra Space and CREA.
Why are we signing up?
Throughout history, the role of women in fields such as engineering has been conspicuous by its absence. However, every day more women make their way in this world and we did not want to fall short, so we followed the path that we are passionate about, that of research and we embarked on this adventure. We are a group of girls who love space, aeronautics and, generally, any challenge that comes our way. For this reason, when we heard about this project we immediately signed up, as we knew that it would allow us to use science in the area that fascinates us so much. In addition, we love to take any opportunity to investigate and learn new things and this project has been ideal for it. We have had to test both our social skills in the search for sponsors and the practices when it comes to acquiring knowledge and applying it programming our little satellite.
What have CREA and ETSIDI provided us?
We went to CREA after contacting ETSIDI explaining what the project consisted of and that we were looking for help to develop it. We immerse ourselves in the world of technology, we design in 3D, we organize the work, all with the help of CREA. They helped us choose our secondary mission, they were attentive to the process at all times and they helped us with any questions. They took the energy out of their time to print the case for us, explain to us how they were going to print the logos on the t-shirts and with their knowledge of technology we were able to understand and develop a CREAtive satellite.
