The Shanghai Selection Competition of the National Youth Aerospace Innovation Competition ignites the "aerospace dream", where children's golden ideas for innovation | Space Station | Aerospace
Asteroids, Beidou satellite technology, lunar rovers, space stations, Jupiter probes, space self powered rowing machines, Mars bases... These space technologies, which are considered "ivory towers" by the public, have been confidently "played" by a group of primary and secondary school students, and have greatly impressed the next generation of scientific researchers with their "space dreams".
On July 1st, the 2022-2023 National Youth Aerospace Innovation Competition Shanghai Selection Competition was held at Shanghai Pudong Foreign Affairs Service School. The theme of this competition is "Flying Dreams with the Heart of Aerospace", guided by the Shanghai Association of Science and Technology throughout the process, and jointly organized by the China Aerospace Science and Technology International Exchange Center and the Shanghai Association of Old Science and Technology Workers. Nearly 100 students from primary and secondary schools have registered, and over 400 teams have passed strict review, ultimately qualifying for the Shanghai selection competition.
![The Shanghai Selection Competition of the National Youth Aerospace Innovation Competition ignites the "aerospace dream", where children's golden ideas for innovation | Space Station | Aerospace](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/443157cb74f9d8f414647d71bd2fb34d.jpeg)
The Shanghai division of this year's competition offers 5 projects, including the Aerospace Creative Competition, Aerospace Science Exploration and Innovation Competition, "Star Mine Exploration" Challenge, "Building a Dream Palace" Challenge, and the Space Station Science Experiment Plan and Experimental Equipment Design Competition. Each participating team needs to showcase their entries through hands-on production, proposal writing, on-site explanation, defense, and other activities, using commonly used tools, materials, and open-source hardware in daily life. The members of the judging expert group for the selection competition are composed of experts from the Eighth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. They conducted a comprehensive and serious evaluation based on the innovation, scientificity, engineering, and artistry of the entries.
Aerospace technology is a highly integrated interdisciplinary integration of mathematics, physics, chemistry, humanities, geography, and other fields. How much progress has been made in the practical application scenarios of aerospace engineering created by teenagers compared to today's aerospace technology? The aerospace creative competition gives people a stunning glimpse. Among them, Zhao Xiaoqing, Ren Jiayao and Hu Zhixiang, three primary school students from the affiliated school of Shanghai University of Science and Technology, brought a construction scheme of "folding moon station" and a model of the moon station made of gypsum, gauze, high-density foam, etc. "By designing the lunar station as a compressed structure and folding it, the rocket head, which could only transport one lunar station, can now transport six lunar stations at once." The students expressed their hope to use this design to prepare for future large-scale space migration.
![The Shanghai Selection Competition of the National Youth Aerospace Innovation Competition ignites the "aerospace dream", where children's golden ideas for innovation | Space Station | Aerospace](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/1d02c05583e97582fb8c6414675d8e62.jpeg)
The Star Mine Exploration Challenge is a youth AI specialized application competition based on artificial intelligence Mars exploration as a simulation scenario. Participants need to use computer programming and intelligent device debugging to operate unmanned exploration and mining vehicles for mineral resources exploration and mining using cameras, electronic screens, and robotic arms. "The older the group is, the fewer remote control stages are operated by human hands, and the higher the requirements for full automatic programming of vehicles are." The judges of the competition introduced that the technical principles such as image recognition that the students need to master are actually similar to the auto drive system of Tesla and other vehicles, or can be applied to actual Mars exploration.
As one of the co organizers of the competition, more than 30 students from Shanghai Pudong Foreign Affairs Service School participated in the service work of the competition. Lei Zhixiong, the chairman of the school union, stated that the competition service has expanded students' social practice abilities, broadened their horizons, and also promoted the development of vocational education towards future industries such as aerospace technology, providing useful inspiration.
![The Shanghai Selection Competition of the National Youth Aerospace Innovation Competition ignites the "aerospace dream", where children's golden ideas for innovation | Space Station | Aerospace](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/91a0afb3faf37359f17456fc0872e1b3.jpeg)
"This competition is divided into different groups based on age. The primary school group has the highest number of participants and is also the most pleasantly surprised. The works of young elementary school athletes are even more creative." Du Zhigang, the head of the Shanghai Selection Competition Organizing Committee and the dean of Shanghai Jiangyang Vocational College, said that in recent years, China's aerospace industry has flourished, and major aerospace projects have attracted worldwide attention, sparking a new round of aerospace fever. The purpose of this competition is to open a magical door to aerospace technology for young people and stimulate their enthusiasm for exploring aerospace science. At the same time, innovative and interesting competition methods stimulate the interest of young people in aerospace and help cultivate aerospace reserve talents.