Student essay contest - win a trip to see the Columbus launch!
Are you a national of one of the ESA Member States (*)? And are you a student at a university in one of ESA's Member States? Students of all disciplines are invited to take part in the ESA Columbus essay contest – prizes include a trip to watch the Columbus launch in Florida!
About Columbus
The Columbus laboratory is Europe's most important contribution to the International Space Station (ISS), which is the largest international project of all time.
The ISS is permanently manned and regularly visited by European astronauts. Columbus is scheduled to be launched and attached to the ISS at the end of 2007. It will be the first European 'territory' on board the ISS, and will provide a unique European research laboratory in weightlessness – the first of its kind for Europe - for experiments and applications in life and physical sciences and for demonstrating new technologies.
The essay contest: what do you have to do?
Write an essay about YOUR vision on the following topic: 'The value of human spaceflight for European citizens'.
The topic should be approached from YOUR perspective and may consider scientific, technological, social, economic, cultural aspects etc. The essay should not exceed 1000 words and must be submitted in English.
Please download and use the following essay template:
Essay template >>
Send your essay to ColumbusContest @ esa.int marked 'Columbus essay'. If you have any questions concerning your essay please send them to the same address, indicating 'Question' in the subject line. The deadline for submitting the essay is 24 October 2007. ESA will announce the winner by 31 October 2007.
Who can participate?
The contest is open to university students up to Masters level or equivalent from ESA Member States (*). Note that students from all disciplines can join the contest!
(*) Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
Prizes
The 1st prize winner (**) will go to the Columbus launch at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida (US) – subject to any delays.
The 2nd and 3rd runners up will be invited to ESA's research and technology centre, ESTEC, in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to receive a certificate signed by the European astronauts participating in the Columbus mission.
(**) The first prize cannot be transferred and no correspondence can be entered
