Hands-on experience

A CanSat training course for European teachers will be held at Andøya Rocket Range in Norway, 5-8 November 2012. The course will prepare high school teachers to involve their students aged 16-19 in future CanSat competitions.

The course was open to applications from teachers working in a high school in one of ESA's Member States*. As of 2 October, all 24 places have now been filled. All costs will be covered by ESA, but participants are responsible for booking their own travel and then claiming reimbursement from the Agency.

Teachers will experience first-hand how to work with a CanSat kit, developed by the University of Aalborg in Denmark. They will program the CanSat, launch it and process the data, thereby learning about the challenges that student teams face when participating in a CanSat competition.

The trainees will also benefit from the expertise of Andøya Rocket Range in handling CanSat flight operations. With the assistance of experts from the Norwegian Centre for Space-related Education (NAROM), they will learn about the key aspects of how to build and fly successfully a CanSat.

Setting up a kit

Teachers will also learn from other’s experiences of using CanSats in schools and will discuss how to implement national CanSat activities. Following the training course, participants will be encouraged to support the establishment of regional and national CanSat competitions in their home countries.

The programme will cover:

• Introduction to the CanSat kit: data processing and communication, and basic sensors for the CanSat;
• Preparation of the CanSat kit;
• Setup, soldering and testing of the CanSat kit;
• CanSat requirements;
• Programming of CanSats;
• Basic aerodynamics: determine the descent rate, short introduction to simulating the trajectory;
• A CanSat drop from a balloon and a rocket launch demonstration with two CanSats (weather permitting);
• Data processing of CanSats.

CanSats are simulated satellites, about the size of a soft drink can, which are assembled from ready-made kits or components and launched to an altitude of about one kilometre on board a small rocket. The next European CanSat competition will take place in 2013.

How to apply

Teachers wishing to apply for a place should download and complete the application form from the CanSats in Europe website.

* The 19 ESA Member States are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.