| Events - Competitions |
Leipzig’s cycling track hosts young engineering hot shots on August 19th
Leipzig/SEI, August 12th, 2011
The Moonbuggy might not be going to the Moon just yet, but it’s still simulating the challenges of a career at the cutting edge of industry, science and craft – not to mention enthusiasm, health and sports. Next weekend, 4 international Moonbuggy teams from Germany, Russia, India and France will be battling it out in Leipzig to compete for the cup of international NASA teams. Leipzig’s race track is the ideal venue for the recumbent bikes that are speeding up to 80km/h before the annual Children’s Night Race takes off from 6pm. But there’s more to it.
For 5 years the Leipzig-built Moonbuggy has been taking part in the eponymous NASA construction competition. It was the first non-US built vehicle and earned the winning team last year – this year, there were even two vehicles that finished 4th and 6th across the pond. At the same time, 48 Indian teams started at NASA, but none of them finished better than 17th. It’s the same for teams from universities and high schools in Russia, Canada, Romania, Hungary, Malaysia, France and others. So far, no other international educational establishment has been able to inspire and push their students as far as Leipzig’s International Space Education Institute e.V. did.
Sahil Sehgal (22) from New Delhi holds a Master in information technology and was quick to join the first International Summer School in Leipzig. ‘Quality instead of quantity’ was his motto while he spent time in a multidisciplinary team. Yevgeny Sakutin (22) hails from the Urals and finished his aerospace studies as the most distinguished student in his Moscow Aviation University. This summer is his 4th time in Leipzig, and he feels it’s natural to learn abroad and then pass his experience on to his Russian peers in industry and academia. Laurence Ponsot (19) studies engineering in Lyon. She wonders why a high tech nation such as France has not fared better in such an important youth competition, but points out: ‘In Leipzig I found a family you can reach anything with.’
All those international students – 25 by now – have only one goal: ‘To give our best at the first international championship in Leipzig’. But what makes Leipzig so attractive? Dr. Eberhard Rees, 2nd director of NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center during the 1970s, studied and worked in Leipzig as a young man. His boss in the Lindenau-based company Meyer & Weichelt, Dr. Curt Weichelt, founded the association of the friends of the commercial college and developed young talents during the 1920s. Today, Marshall Spaceflight Center in the rocket city of Huntsville Alabama is the host of the NASA Moonbuggy Race. Today’s SEI is the same kind of hotbed for talents as Weichelt’s brainchild was then.
Some of those that profit most from this international exposure are the regional German students. Tobias Meier (15) of Portitz high school, Eric Meinel (15) of Kant grammar school or Nadin Rößler of Chemnitz’s Goethe grammar have long crossed the boundaries to the international engineering world and are already on the way to the top. As successful cyclist, Max Frank (17) has found a new goal: ‘The Moonbuggy deserves to be turned into a sport and leisure activity’.
Am meisten profitieren davon die Leipziger und deutschen Schüler. Tobias Meier (15) aus der Mittelschule Portitz, Eric Meinel (15) aus dem Kantgymnasium oder Nadin Rößler aus dem Chemnitzer Goethegymnasium haben ihre Distanz zum internationalen Ingenieurwesen längst überwunden und mischen bereits ganz oben mit. Max Frank (17) hat als erfolgreicher Radsportler zu einem neuen Ziel gefunden: „Der Moonbuggy verdient es als Sport und in der Freizeit etabliert zu werden“.
In the course of preparations for this NASA contest, a 400 strong task list has been developed into a complex project for vocational training. Students with ambitions for technical or science subjects can take up micro-projects that they enjoy and produce parts, software, electronics, handbooks or documentation for the Moonbuggy, guided by professional in-house and external engineers and advisors. They’re motivated to show their work in an international setting, and at the same time gain an understanding of what they’d like to do in the future. Many of them become more focused and organized in the process. Saxony’s Ministry for Culture has hence included work on the Moonbuggy in the framework of formal science projects at high school graduation level.
A balanced scoring system spurs the students on to achievement, creativity, construction savvy, sports and strategic thinking. Kick-off is at 6pm, and – Formula 1 style – the 4 vehicles will be racing the 1200m with 2 respective drivers on the pedals simultaneously. They start in a collapsed position. The on-site mobile mission control centre will be recording telemetry during the 3-4min races. Data analysis and translation of insights into new vehicles will take the best part of the coming months. Until then, however, the best Moonbuggy pilot will already have been crowned in Leipzig.
Big goals need a big arena – as they are our future. Our great thanks go to all participants, including the hosts of the Children’s Night Race and all regional companies who find their heart in this idea.
More information for students, pupils and parents:
Tel: +49 (0) 172 7949 375
Ralf Heckel, Chairman
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Saturday, 23 July 2011 07:34 | Written by Administrator |
Leipzig, 21.07.2011 Translated by Lea Mork
Interested in age from 12-19 years are especially welcome and can register to a unit at:
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 11:58 | Written by Administrator |
Ralf Heckel, International Space Education Institute If, in future, we want to settle the moon and the planets as we live in orbit right now, we’ll need to be willing to swap nationality against an ‘earth-citizenship’. Exploring space is the task of humanity as a whole. It may be pioneered by several nations at first, but at the end of the day we’ll all have to be prepared to work together smoothly to discover the new. Each captain needs a crew. Great achievements are therefore only possible in a team, with impeccable excellence and consideration for safety, above all. These are the core values of NASA and the house rules of ISS. And I love them – thank you, America! Last year, 2010, we scored the best time in the Moonbuggy Race. For a long while afterwards we didn’t really realize what that meant. The success was such a surprise that each of our team was unprepared. Afterall, it’s only 1 second of a difference – not more, and not less. But it was pivotal. And the Moonbuggy by the team of Fajardo Vocational High School (PR) and ours couldn’t be more different. That single second showed that many ways lead to success. Thank you, Puerto Rico, fort his experience!
An absolutely surprice was the speedrecord of our pilots. For a short time at the training in Huntsville, our buggy drove a speed of 50 mph (80 km/h). Thank you Stefan and Steffi for this great power. Since our first international participation 5 years ago, it’s become increasingly vital for us also to inspire other nations for the Moonbuggy Race. The Moonbuggy has a great future if it goes multinational. Nothing is as self-evident as to do this in Russia, Europe’s strongest space nation. Our nations, US – Germany – Russia, have a common historic core. This is where space exploration began. German engineers were also working in Russia on the rockets for Sputnik and Gagarin – like the ‘Von Braun-Team’ in Huntsville. That’s why we drove ten thousands of kilometers through Russia with the students and their Moonbuggy. There were already two races in Russia and a number of talks. The word ‘Moonbuggy’ – or subtly adapted, ‘lunar buggy’ – is now part of the Russian vocabulary. Now we’re having a little break from the Russian roads, as they couldn’t be worse on the Moon. Man and machine did their best during this east-bound roadshow – they’re well prepared now!
It is therefore with great pleasure that I’m presenting two Russian teams in 2011, this special year. One team is driving under our support. Another team initially trained with us, but now want to be in competition. We’re really excited.
A big respect goes to the first team from Africa. 3 years long we supported a school on Kenya and showed them a Moonbuggy. 1200 students in Kilifi near Mombasa ware excited. But there is no electrical power, no water and no toilett and a very slow internet. First we built a restroom for all. So it is a great surprice to know a team from Ethopia at the Moonbuggy Race. Welcome Africa!
Why there is so much enthusiasm this year, I’d like to explain too. Just like in America, Russia celebrates 40 Years of the Lunar Rover. ‘Lunokhod 1’ was an automatic rover that landed on the Moon even a bit earlier than LRV. It took 20,000 photographs, 200 films and covered around 7 miles on the Moon. We visited Lunokhod with our Moonbuggy and we can bring along its chief designer and telemetry pilot. In addition to that, April 12th, only 10 days after the Moonbuggy Race 2011 will be a double anniversary again: That’s 30 years Space Shuttle and 50 years Gagarin’s flight. Both are firsts and ground-breaking achievements. They’re based on excellence, integrity and team spirit. I’m convinced this is what you’ll all be bringing to the race.
Give your best!
Links:
Russian Team TV: Press: translated by Regina Peldszus, space hability designerin, Kingston University London
Saturday, 18 September 2010 08:14 | Written by Administrator |
A wave of sympathy from Germany met the aerospace students from Moscow, and might provide and stepping-stone for their future. The test-run of an integrated, free summer programme for future crafts and engineering finished today after 4 eventful weeks. Our expectations were exceeded across industry, crafts, business, education and aerospace.
Thus, the up-and-coming engineers showed their skills during the Day of Vocational Orientation in Crafts, and there the Working Group Space Education was founded as an extracurricular project for schools. The group from Moscow was handpicked during 71 international projects in 4 years. Next year, for the 50th anniversary Yuri Gagarin’s flights, it’s their goal to represent Russia at the NASA Moonbuggy Race, a US young engineering competition, in cooperation with the Leipzig-based International Space Education Institute.
The workshop and additional expenses, including flights, were financed by the students – not through money, but ideas and participation. The newly opening Space Hotel Leipzig provided a junior suite to each of them and arranged a job for 1-2hrs a day. That covered all expenses. The potential of the exclusive group – who became a strong team in the past 4 weeks – will pave the way for setting up a number of student enterprises in crafts, engineering and business. ARD (the large German public broadcaster) documented the project for a day in the framework of the 20th anniversary “20 Years Fall of the Wall”.
The students from Moscow plan to further develop their skills at the German workshops in Leipzig during the winter in order to provide a secure base for self-financing their future study wishes through integration in the Russian economy. This is an exchange that works, since for the winter holidays, German students and apprentices are already eagerly waiting for their new role-models from Moscow. Our counterpart of the journey will depart to Russia in October in time for the 20th anniversary of German Unification. The German embassy in Moscow supports this exchange with a simplified issuing process of student visa. Amongst other destinations, the German Moonbuggy will visit many schools, universities and sites of the Mars500 project between Moscow and Kiev. The Winning Moonbuggy Team 2011 from Germany and the upcoming Russian Team
Who will make the future? This year will be the toughest competition since ever! On TV: 3. Oktober 2010, 21:00 GMT+1, ARD and: Documentary Film Festival Leipzig, 13.-17. October 2010 Workshop Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceEducation?feature=mhum#g/c/80BF195C8527148D Workshop: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceeducation/collections/72157624568221004/ Workshop Reports (for now in Russian): http://spaceeducation-ru.blogspot.com/ Special thanks are extended to the following organizations and people: - Chamber of Crafts Leipzig - Vocational and Technology Centre Borsdorf - Bruno Banani, Chemnitz - Fahrzeugbau Frank, Leipzig - DEKRA Leipzig - Turnery Günther Jakob, Holzhausen - Wittenbecher Maschinenbau, Leipzig - Space Hotel Leipzig - Solarwatt Dresden - Solarpark Grimma - Commerzbank Leipzig - Ball-Bearing Works Leipzig - LOOKS Film&TV Ltd., Leipzig - Ediniy Rossia, TV-Team of UFA - Mr Schmidt, PhD (BTZ-Borsdorf) - Ms Wolter, PhD (Handwerkskammer zu Leipzig) - Mr Mühlendorfer Voigt (HTI Peenemünde) - Mr Mett, PhD (DLR-Campus Neustrelitz) - Mr Reinhold (V2 rocketeer, 99 Jahre alt) - Ms Krylova (Cousin von Sputnik-Konstrukteur Korolev) - Ms Frank (Great cousin of Herrmann Oberth) - Ms Hackl (Direktorin Freies Gymnasium Borsdorf) - Mr Henri Schulz (Private Oberservatory Kletzen)
Friday, 04 June 2010 06:58 | Written by Ralf Heckel |
Moscow, June 3rd 2010 Finally! Today's the day. The sun is shining over Moscow. The hatches close with a faintly smacking sound. Dozens of flash bulbs go off. The life support system boots up for the next 520 days. Six crew members get ready for entry into orbit before docking with the giant propulsion module with its even larger solar sails. The solid rocket boosters accelerate with a rumble. Slowly, the electric drives gear up with a stinging arc of light and accelerate the crew to 14km/sec, a speed never before reached by a human. It's on a course to Mars. And a daily routine begins for the next 240 days in microgravity, while home is shrinking into a small blue star in the rear window. Only three astronauts will be able to say the sentence that will mark the new millennium. Perhaps it's this one: "We are the first to step on Mars, and we won't be the last".  Finally! Today's the day. The sun is shining over Moscow. The hatches close with a faintly smacking sound. Dozens of flash bulbs go off. The life support system boots up for the next 520 days. Six crew members get ready for entry into orbit before docking with the giant propulsion module with its even larger solar sails. The solid rocket boosters accelerate with a rumble. Slowly, the electric drives gear up with a stinging arc of light and accelerate the crew to 14km/sec, a speed never before reached by a human. It's on a course to Mars. And a daily routine begins for the next 240 days in microgravity, while home is shrinking into a small blue star in the rear window. Only three astronauts will be able to say the sentence that will mark the new millennium. Perhaps it's this one: "We are the first to step on Mars, and we won't be the last". I'd like to take the opportunity on this solemn day to tell of the breath-taking preparations of this experiment in the coming months. I am probably the only representative here to participate in this "flight to Mars" with partners from enterprise without a national stake. The ticket was immensely dear. For many it is priceless and cost us 5 years worth of time, ideas, enthusiasm and vision. This is why I'd like to extend my gratitude to Bruno Banani, spaceflight ambassador Yvonne, Prof. Evgeniy Demin (IMPB), Prof. Anatoly Zotov (MAI), Prof. Vladimir Malozemov (MAI) and last but not least also Prof. Dr. von Puttkamer (NASA) for their constant support. But also our visionary students since 2005 have contributed to this. In particular, I wish to thank Regina Peldszus (Doctoral Researcher Space Habitability Design, Kingston University London), Ivan Therekov (Engineer at Suchoi), Stefan Martini (Moonbuggy Pilot), Vanessa Gstettenbauer (Mission 3) and Thommy Knabe (Moonbuggy Chief Designer).
Five years ago, when I first entered the module at IMBP with German students and listened to the engineers, I would never have guessed that we'd play a part in the preparations for a human flight to Mars some day. Nevertheless we caught the bug: infected with curiosity and the insight that it's possible to constantly push your own boundaries. You only need the determination to do it. 
However, today I'd like to remember a man who gave his life for this dream. Friedrich Zander (1887-1933) was a German born Russian engineer and spaceflight pioneer who coined the term of the heading "Perechod na Mars". Sacrificing his health, he built the foundations that today form the basis of the Mars module: The support of life adoring interplanetary long duration missions. It was him who discussed feasibility issues with the godfather of spaceflight, Ziolkowsky. It was him who formed the first group of enthusiastic young engineers (GIRD) and aimed for Mars early on, together with Korolyov who later built Sputnik and Gagarin's rocket. He named his daughter Astra. Today, she is over 80 years old and lives to see the actualisation of this dream.
Today I presented the chief designer of the Mars-bound spacecraft with a photograph of my daughter Cosma who's standing in front of the mighty Saturn V rocket in Davidson Center, Huntsville/Alabama. He'd like to place it in the spacecraft. May Cosma, who's three years old, live to know the dreams of Astra, her father and all visionaries, and to maybe fulfil them some day.
http://spaceeducation-de.blogspot.com/2010/06/perechod-na-mars-auf-zum-mars.html
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