A team of Czech high school students named Lasar succeeded in the finals of the NASA competition in Houston. He was the only one to receive two out of three possible awards. Team leader Jan Spratek announced this on the X network.
“Only now did I understand that the fascination with our team was not just a polite phrase from the Americans, but that the entire organizing team and the judges from NASA were really talking about us behind the scenes and before the final itself,” he said.
A team of four Czech high school students between the ages of sixteen and nineteen came up with a principle that would make it possible to restore connection with satellites. The concept is based on a laser that hits the satellite’s solar panel and thus overloads its surge protection.
“As a result, the satellite disconnects the solar panels to protect itself. After a while, it discharges, and during that discharge, a unique moment occurs when we can send a reboot signal, correct an error in the software and put the non-communicating satellite back into operation,” team member Simon Klinga described to the ČT24 website.
Hosted by Space Center Houston, the Conrad Challenge encourages students ages 13 to 18 to design innovations that will change the world. It takes place in several stages and teams of two to five students from all over the world participate in it. Winning teams receive scholarships, patents and other help to fine-tune their inventions.
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