The Department of Education has announced an innovative program giving students the chance to launch school projects into space.
Curtin University’s Space Science and Technology Centre is supporting the secondary school program, BinarX.
One of the lead schools, John Curtin College of the Arts, is working with Applecross Senior High School, Peter Carnley Anglican Community School and Halls Head College to design and build a circuit board called a payload.
The payload has a camera system that will gather data and monitor the effect of UV rays on the Earth’s surface.
The payload will be placed in a CubeSat, named Binar, which is the Noongar word for fireball. The CubeSat is a small 10cm satellite that will be launched into space and orbit 400 kilometres above the Earth’s surface.
Director of Technologies at John Curtin College of the Arts, Tim Rowberry said science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs like BinarX were important because they allowed students to network with industry professionals.
“It has been a positive collaboration between the schools, with the students learning skills in presentation strategies, prototyping, coding, digital technologies and using remote control communication networks,” Mr Rowberry said.
Year 9 John Curtin student, Alfie-Ragan Curran said he was relishing the opportunity to be part of the BinarX team.
“I have always had a love for science and space and when I heard about the BinarX project, I jumped at the chance,” Alfie-Ragan said.
“BinarX allows me the opportunity for some real-world applications of space science to gain a deeper knowledge of space and its scientific applications.”
The CubeSat is expected to be launched by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2024.
