Two Cannons pupils part of group to win International Space Settlement Design Competition

Congratulations to two of our pupils, Qaylah Omar (Grade 10) and Alaya Kaplen (Grade 11) who were part of the group to recently win the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The two Cannons Creek pupils; along with pupils from Westerford High School, Bishops Diocesan College, Fairmont High School, and Mondale High School; made up the seven-strong South African team. Countries are allowed to send teams of up to 12 people, so this was record-breaking that this South African team was the only one from the continent, and for the first time ever. The South African team merged with other teams from around the world, to form their company Rockdonnell (approximately 60 people per company) which had various roles in its structure such as the CEO, President, HR, and Operations. The actual competition consisted of 15-hour long days where the groups needed to design every possible aspect of a space settlement that is permanently in space and engages in inter-planetary travel, as well as designing the rockets and shuttles that go back and forth. They needed to ensure that the city had everything a normal city would have such as sewage, roads and so forth; as well as being sustainable and profitable.

A highlight for Qaylah was visiting the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit. She said, “The experience was so immersive and the way NASA presented it is truly indescribable. At that specific exhibit, I not only got to see the Atlantis orbiter, which travelled 33 missions, but I also got to experience a space shuttle launch simulator, which was INCREDIBLE! You feel the vibrations, hear the rumbles and experience the G-force of a real rocket launch!” A surprising moment for Alaya was experienced when she was taking a well-deserved break next to a river when she witnessed a real-life alligator surfacing out the water (which was not fenced in).

Some of the biggest challenges they faced were the long days ensuring they managed their time and met deadlines. Since it was a multinational competition, language barriers were also another challenge. However, there were translators and this allowed for lots of cultural learning to take place. “This taught me to slow down and find new ways of communicating,” said Qaylah. Qaylah summarised the experience well, saying: “Even though we all came from different cultures and places, we were able to bond over science as well as form lifelong friendships”. She added that the biggest challenge for her was that she was one of eight pupils chosen to present their project to the judges – “Since I was presenting last, I had to quickly cut out parts of what I planned as we were running overtime. At least it was short and sweet…just like me!” Alaya shared that she found the food to be an issue as “Everything is soaked in preservatives and corn syrup!”

Speaking about the experience overall, Alaya said: “It was maybe the most intense week of my life – everything is bigger. It was overwhelmingly incredible”. Alaya also spoke fondly of everyone bringing little pins from their countries to add to others’ lanyards, adding that she especially liked the Brazilians as there are several commonalities between the two countries. Qaylah said, “Representing South Africa at ISSDC was already an incredible honour but knowing we were also representing Africa for the first time made the experience even more meaningful. Then to win the competition while being the first South African team is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life”. Alaya added that they were surrounded by incredible people – not only the participants, but also the astronauts, astrophysicists, plane pilots, and engineers; and so several connections were made. Qaylah added that visiting NASA was a dream come true – “This competition has opened my eyes to the possibility of exploring opportunities in aerospace. I am fascinated by the industry as it is characterised by constant discovery and I truly believe that space represents the future for our generation”.