Offaly school prepares for CanSat Challenge after launch workshop

CONGRATULATIONS to Team “Canastraunauts” from Gallen Community School, transition year students Kyle Hill, Cathal Lyons and Jack Delaney, who recently took part in a CanSat workshop hosted at TUS, Athlone.
CanSat is an international initiative designed to inspire second-level students to explore careers in science and engineering. In Europe, it is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and delivered in Ireland by ESERO Ireland/SFI in partnership with TUS and other universities nationwide.
A CanSat is essentially a miniature satellite built to fit inside a soft drink can. The competition challenges students to design, construct, and test their own CanSat while completing both primary and secondary mission objectives.
The workshop at TUS was divided into two sessions. Cathal focused on assembling the electronic circuitry required to complete the primary mission of recording temperature and pressure. Meanwhile, Kyle attended a programming workshop where he learned how to code an Arduino controller. By the end of the day, Kyle’s code was successfully uploaded to the circuit built by Cathal, allowing the team to transmit live temperature and pressure data via radio to their laptop.

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The “Canastraunauts” will have a busy Christmas ahead as they plan their secondary mission, design and build a parachute to ensure a safe landing, 3D print a custom canister to house the electronics, and prepare an outreach programme to promote the competition within their community.
It was an exciting and valuable experience for Team Canastraunauts, who are already looking forward to their next workshop in January. Follow their progress on Instagram at @canastronaut .

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