[WATCH] Students explore space at Esplora

Students now have the opportunity to integrate the work they do in the field of science with real-life astronauts from the international space station according to the Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.

The executive chairperson of the Malta Council for Science and Technology told Maltatoday the greatest benefit to come out of the collaboration was introducing students to the opportunities that can be found in the field of science.

“The collaboration was done to involve students more in the sector, in order to drum up their interest in space… the centre will also be holding competitions for both primary and secondary students, giving them an opportunity to integrate their work with real-life astronauts from the international space station.”   

On Friday, the Malta Council for Science and Technology organised a space-related event, Space for All: Observing Earth from Space as part of the Maltese Space Education Programme. The event held at Esplora also involved the European Space Agency (ESA).

The event was attended by various secondary schools - throughout the day activities were set up, to show the benefits brought about by satellites observing the earth, encouraging kids to appreciate the significance of satellite imagery over Malta in a way that was fun and exciting.

The activities included various hands-on workshops including a special edition of the planetarium show - a movie created by Nasa educating students all about the International Space Station. Attendees also got the opportunity to meet with space experts in an interactive and engaging setting.

Fatima Pinto, a science didactics expert at ESA told MaltaToday that students now have the opportunity to work with real-life astro bots that feature on the international space station.  

“Thanks to the cooperation between Malta and European Space Agency we are here, to give the opportunity to students from Malta to take part in our competitions, in our challenges and in our programs… an astro bots is a computer, which is used on the International Space Station, so students from all member states now including Malta can apply to competitions."

She said students will be able to send their codes to the space station and if they win they can send a message to the astronaut and also use these codes at the International Space Station to conduct their own experts.

Pinto said programs like this are essential for building the next generation of workers within the field of science.  

“More and more we need to have students following these topics. That is also why at ESA we have an education programme to engage students to study science, technology, engineering… we need to build the next generation of workers, scientists and even perhaps astronauts of tomorrow.”