Life & Style

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

U of M space camp reaches for the stars

Students explore 'frontier of ideas'

By: Nick Martin

Posted: 07/17/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Instructor Alan Thoren, on the walkie talkie in foreground, with student Scott Osadchuk, uses GPS to track a satellite payload mounted on a car travelling around the city. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

Who knew Starfleet Command was hidden away in the University of Manitoba engineering complex?

On the seventh floor in the back of the complex, accessible only by one elevator leading to a staircase, 35 space cadets were intently and intensely tracking a car taking a GPS unit on a tour of the Perimeter Thursday.

The experiment was designed to show students how ground stations such as the one at U of M can track satellites and other objects in space.

It's part of the third annual and most ambitious space camp that U of M and more than a dozen organizations have run for high school students keen on possible aerospace careers.

"Space is the frontier of ideas," engineering prof. Witold Kinsner said Thursday as students received their briefing before taking up their posts at U of M's ground station.

"The core (goal) is to expose young people to science, technology, engineering, so they can choose those directions," Kinsner said.

The five-day camp winds up today, highlighted by a visit from Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

The students were to have launched a weather balloon Thursday morning, but nasty weather caused a cancellation -- NASA feels their pain, having repeatedly postponed the latest shuttle flight. But they were determined to launch a rocket from inside the U of M stadium later Thursday.

Students met earlier in the week with members of the Canada Space Agency, said Kinsner. They learned about Canada's space history, right back to the Alouette satellite going into space in 1962, and the Anik satellite in 1972.

It's a 'fantastic coincidence' that the camp coincides with the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and with Canadian astronaut Julie Payette's shuttle flight, said Kinsner.

"It's so fascinating to have the ability to launch someone in space and have them land on the moon," said Isabelle Anderson-Gregoire, a Grade 11 student at Balmoral Hall School. "I'm really interested in space travel, the unknown."

Christa Woloschiniwsky, who just graduated from St. Mary's Academy, was thrilled with the space camp's access to the latest research in "robotics, nanotechnology, which is really cool.

"I'm interested in aerospace technology" as a possible career, she said.

Students were surprised to learn that U of M has a ground station to track satellites.

Using the ground station, Anderson-Gregoire said, "We're going to put a payload in a car and drive it around, so we can track it."

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 17, 2009 B3

(You must be logged in to post your reaction)

Your reaction?

More Life & Style

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.