Back to School 2024-2025 with ESA: 5 projects to explore with your students

Interdisciplinary School Projects

Every year, ESA and the national ESERO offices run school projects that engage students in multidisciplinary activities, just like in the real world of space missions. Through these projects, students can expand their knowledge of STEM subjects and develop new skills and competences.

By participating in Climate Detectives, Mission X, Moon Camp, CanSat, and Astro Pi, your students can learn about Earth’s environment, train like astronauts, design a habitat in space, develop a “micro-satellite,” or write code that will be run by computers onboard the International Space Station.

Climate Detectives

Students investigate a local climate or environmental problem using Earth Observation data. Mark your calendar: The Climate Detectives project kicks off on 9 September 2024 and runs until 4 April 2025.

Meet the ESA Earth experts! In December, we'll have an exciting webinar with an ESA Expert. Throughout the year, your amazing projects will be showcased, and you'll earn certificates for your hard work!

Celebrate and learn with us! Nationally each ESERO selects a team that will participate in the Climate Detectives Learning and Celebration Event to be held between 12 and 13 May in ESRIN. Don't miss out on the fun!

For the youngest detectives! Climate Detectives Kids teams must complete 2 simple and educational activities related to Earth Sciences and/or Climate to collect badges and earn a final certificate.

Find Out More! Visit https://climatedetectives.esa.int/

Moon Camp

Students have a chance to design a future space habitat! Mark your calendars: Moon Camp opens on 10 September 2024 and runs until 28 April 2025.

This year, we have a brand-new project tag for games and more examples of game-based projects.

Examples of projects are grouped by curriculum subjects.

Join the Expert Talk! In January/February 2025, we will have a live online talk by an ESA space expert on exploration open to everyone.

Find Out More! Visit https://mooncampchallenge.org/

Mission X

Students will learn the key elements to keeping fit, staying healthy in space and on Earth and the science behind it. Mission X is open for submissions between 11 September 2024 and 11 August 2025.

Teams Earn Certificates! Certificates will be available for participating teams from the first submission.

Virtual Celebration! Join us for a virtual celebration event when together all participating teams have earned enough steps to reach the Moon.

The step calculator, registration process, and platform have been simplified, updated physical resources in a simplified layout are now available.

Find Out More! Visit https://trainlikeanastronaut.org/

European Astro Pi Challenge

Students have the chance to get their computer programs run on the International Space Station (ISS)!

Mission Zero: Opens on 16 September and closes on 24 March. Students need to write a computer program to measure light intensity and display an image inspired by nature on the LED matrix of a Raspberry Pi. It is an opportunity to learn how to code in Python and explore the wonders of nature on Earth and beyond!

Mission Space Lab: Opens on 16 September and closes on 24 February. The targeted challenge is to calculate the speed of the ISS. This is an opportunity to learn how to code in Python and plan a scientific experiment. Selected programs will run on the ISS and teams get results back from space! An online version of the testing software will be available as an alternative to the downloadable software.

Find Out More! Visit https://astro-pi.org/

CanSat

Students have the chance to be part of a space project and launch their own “satellites”! They will work in teams to design, build, collect and analyse data from their small satellites.

Starting on 17 September, national CanSat competitions will be launched across Europe. More information on how to apply can be found in the National Organisers pages.

Winners get a special prize!  Especially for the national winning teams ESA is organising a dedicated Space Engineer for a Day 2025 Event to be held between 18, 19 and 20 June 2025 at ESA ESTEC.

Find Out More! Visit https://cansat.esa.int/

For a full detailed description and timeline of each school project, visit the individual project pages.

How to Register for the Projects

Registering for these ESA/ESERO school projects is simple and straightforward. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Visit the respective school project website: Choose the specific project page you are interested in.
2. Visit the national page of your country, mostly managed by your national ESERO. You will find more information about how the project is run nationally. For more information contact directly the ESERO/national organiser in your country.
3. Check the Registration Dates: Make sure to note the registration opening dates for each project to ensure you don't miss the deadline.
4. Complete the Registration Form: Fill out the online registration form with the required information to create a profile.
5. Submit your project: Once you have completed the project, submit it online. You will receive a confirmation email with further instructions and details about the project.