SEDS Canada and Queen’s Space Conference Updates

File photo: NRC, SEDS Canada and CSA personnel with the Falcon 20 jet which will be used to perform the microgravity research. Credit: SEDS Canada.

The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Canada and the Queen’s Space Conference are pushing initiatives to engage more students.

SEDS Canada Update

SEDS Canada is moving forward with the second Canadian Reduced Gravity Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-RGX) with proposals due by Friday, November 17.

SEDS Canada describes the CAN-RGX competition as a challenge for “post-secondary students from across Canada to design, build, and test a scientific experiment on board the National Research Council of Canada’s (NRC) research aircraft, the Falcon 20, which has been modified for parabolic flight in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency​ (CSA). Each team must consist of at least four students attending a Canadian post-secondary institution, and two of the team members will have the opportunity to fly on board the aircraft as Mission Specialists.”

This year four proposals selected by a panel of experts from the NRC, CSA and SEDS-Canada will get an opportunity to fly their experiments.

SEDS Canada also has three other initiatives underway;

  1. The Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-SBX) – The Canadian Stratospheric Balloon Experiment Design Challenge (CAN-SBX) is a competition for Canadian post-secondary students to design and test a small scientific experiment to fly on board a High-Altitude Balloon provided by the Canadian Space Agency. The CAN-SBX program allows post-secondary students to develop different experiments in areas such as astrophysics, Earth atmosphere, Earth magnetic field, biology, remote sensing and technology demonstrations. Proposals are due December 1 though the Letter of Intent deadline was October 13.
  2. Act In Space – Act In Space is a business competition started by CNES (Centre Nationale des Etudes Spatiale) with support from ESA (European Space Agency) and ESA BIC Sud France.
  3. MarsSat, Satellites Around Mars: What Will it Take – A competition sponsored by the Society of Satellite Professionals International and encouraged by SEDS Canada.

Queens Space Conference Update

The 6th annual Queen’s Space Conference organized by students is being held January 26-28, 2018 in Kingston.

To help reduce the cost of the annual event and make it more accessible, the conference organizers have started a campaign to have an opt-out fee included in student activity fees. The initiative made it onto the fall referendum vote being held October 31 and November 1. If the measure passes, students will see a $0.35 fee which they can opt out of. The referendum question is as follows; “Do you agree to the establishment of a $0.35 fee, subject to individual opt out, to support the Queen’s Space Conference?“

 

Vote Yes campaign for the Queen's Space Conference.
Vote Yes campaign for the Queen’s Space Conference. Credit: Queen’s Space Conference.

 

About Marc Boucher

Boucher is an entrepreneur, writer, editor & publisher. He is the founder of SpaceQ Media Inc. and CEO and co-founder of SpaceRef Interactive LLC. Boucher has 20+ years working in various roles in the space industry and a total of 30 years as a technology entrepreneur including creating Maple Square, Canada's first internet directory and search engine.

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