Harrodian Senior and Sixth Form students enjoyed a great day out launching their own mini satellite or CanSat, into the sunny Oxfordshire countryside.
CanSats, as their name suggests are miniature simulations of a real satellite, integrated within the volume and shape of a soft drink can. The National Space Agency runs an annual schools competition which involves designing, engineering and building them, launching them by rocket, performing a series of tasks and then landing them successfully.
Harrodian's five-strong team, this year made up of five students from our 14s (Year 10) and Lower Sixth, has been working on a satellite 'lander' designed to evaluate the level of desertification along the southern edge of the Sahel region of Africa using moisture and pH testing units which become operative when the satellite lands.
They successfully launched and landed their CanSat unit when they took part in the competition testing day on a glorious afternoon spent with other school teams at Westcott in the Oxfordshire countryside.
According to Mr Jake Murray, Harrodian Head of Design, the team thoroughly enjoyed the day and were impressed by the quality of engineering design they witnessed from other participating schools which included a team from Harrodian neighbours, St Paul's School. 'It was a great day out and a productive one,' said Mr Murray. 'The team learnt so much about the complexity that successful CanSat engineering demands which will stand them in good stead for the future.'