Education is an out-of-this-world experience for a group of Stonewall students.
On Nov. 6, the 20 students in at Ecole Stonewall Centennial School’s STEM 7 class had the chance to work with University of Manitoba engineering students on building an instrument destined for space. The engineering faculty is building a new Arctic satellite with the Canadian Space Agency Cube Satellite Program.
For the second time, Stonewall students will be working with the space agency and UM’s engineering faculty Star Lab on an instrument for the space cube.
A cube satellite, or CubeSat, is a square-shaped miniature satellite, Nickel explained.
“It’s 10 centimetres by 10 centimetres by 10 centimetres — roughly the size of a Rubik’s cube — weighing no more than two kilograms each,” she said.
“A CubeSat can be used alone (one unit) or in groups of multiple units (maximum 24 units). This Arctic one will be four cubes tall.”
The Stonewall STEM students will be working on several sensors that help to deploy an antenna to open up and point towards Earth. The antenna will collect data over Canada’s Arctic, including measuring sea ice levels.
If all goes according to current timelines, the CubeSat will launch into space in about a year, but transport delays could cause it to take up to two years.
“CubeSats hitch a ride into space using extra space available on rockets. They are packed in a container, which, with the push of a button, activates a spring that ejects the CubeSats into space,” Nickel explained.
“CubeSats can also be deployed from the International Space Station by using the same technique from the airlock in the Japanese module. Like other satellites, they can be flown alone or in a constellation network in orbit around the Earth.”
The project provides 21st-century skills, such as critical thinking, communication and collaboration.
“This will help them as they continue on to high school and onto any program they want to study in as a career choice,” Nickel said.
“It is real-world problems being solved in real time by these student with this satellite. They are studying how climate change is affecting the Arctic ice and how it can affect the animals that need that ice and use real science data to help solve the problem of our climate warming too fast.”
For the students, it’s exciting to be involved in this type of educational opportunity.
“The reaction was many cheers, smiles and excitement that they get to help build a real satellite that goes into space and that they are the only ones in the division that get to do this project,” Nickel said.
“They also said many thanks to me to be able to do this and were so excited to tell their parents about it.”
Tribune Photos By Maria Nickel
