LOCAL space company ManSat Ltd has joined forces with an American foundation to offer students in the Isle of Man the chance to represent the Island at a NASA research centre.
ManSat Ltd has teamed up with The Conrad Foundation and the Department of Education and Children to help secondary school students prepare for the Spirit of Innovation Awards.
The awards require teams, of up to four 13 to 18 year olds, to create innovative products which solve the challenges of the 21st century using science, technology and entrepreneurship.
One team will be chosen to take an all expenses paid trip to the Innovation Summit, which is being held at NASA’s Ames Research Centre in California next spring, to showcase their idea.
Winning innovations receive funding and NASA backing so the idea may one day end up in production.
Previous ideas that have won the award include sunglasses that monitor space travellers' vital signs and a lightweight counter-pressurised suit that stimulates muscles to avoid the rapid deterioration caused by lack of gravity.
ManSat Ltd's chairman Chris Stott said: "As a local space company we're happy to bring this opportunity to Manx students and we're sure they will make the most of it and will excel at the international finals at NASA next April."
Ian Jarritt ManSat Ltd's finance director also commented: "To be able to have a Manx school compete for the Spirit of Innovation Award is wonderful as it adds a whole new dimension to the space education programs in the Island."
Minister for Education and Children Eddie Teare MHK said: "I was delighted to learn that ManSat has decided to provide such generous support which will stimulate the minds and focus the activities of our students.
"This project fits in well with my own view that we should encourage creative activity and also emphasis opportunities available in other areas rather than the traditional avenues available to local students."
The collaboration was announced last week when students from four of the secondary schools met organisers and competitors of the global Google Lunar X Prize which the Island hosted.
The Conrad Foundation's executive director Josh Neubert told students: "Science isn't something that's stuck in a classroom and distanced from the rest of the world."
The foundation was named after dyslexic student Pete Conrad who was excluded from school at 11th grade for being disruptive.
He went on to gain a scholarship from Princeton University, command Apollo 12 and become the third man to ever walk on the moon. The foundation was built on his legacy to inspire students to succeed.
