Send your drawing into space with Cheops – Rules
By entering the competition you agree to the following:
The ESA Cheops drawing competition is open to children who are between the ages of 8 and 14 inclusive at any point in 2015, from any of ESA’s member states or cooperating states.
By submitting an entry, the participant declares that it is his or her own work and is not copied from any other original work. ESA bears no responsibility for verifying the authenticity of the proposals or the age of the participant child.
The parents/guardians of the child submitting an entry declare that they give permission to ESA to publish the name and the age of the child, and that they give ESA all rights to use the submitted entry for the non-commercial purposes outlined in this announcement and related to ESA communications. The personal data of the child will not be communicated to any third party.
Disclaimer
ESA bears no responsibility for any delay or loss of entry. The rules may be updated or added to without notice, reflecting any questions we receive to clarify rules. Dates may change due to unforeseen events outside our control. The competition is run on a best-effort basis.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
How can I join?
Where should I send my drawing?
How many drawings can I send?
What drawing supplies can I use?
Are there any restrictions on the subject of the drawing?
Where can I find information about the Cheops mission?
What is the closing date?
Who will choose which drawings will go to space?
When and how will the selected drawings be announced?
When will the drawings be launched into space?
Can I join via email, an online form, or social media?
If I have a problem with my entry, or a question about the competition, whom should I contact?
Can I participate if I live outside of Europe?
I don’t speak English: can I still join?
How old do I have to be to join?
One (or both) of my parents/guardians or other close family members works at ESA or at a Cheops mission partner agency or research institute: can I still participate?
Do I have to fill in the feedback questionnaire that is distributed on the competition web page?
What language can I use to fill in the feedback questionnaire?
To participate, you must download and print a standard drawing sheet that is available here. Make your drawing on the sheet, and add the following information: your first name and surname, date of birth, postal and email address.
Where should I send my drawing?
If you are a resident of one of Cheops consortium country members (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or UK), you are requested to join the national competitions organised by ESA’s partner institutions in those countries. You can find contacts and mail addresses for the national competitions here.
If you are a resident of one of the other ESA member or cooperating states, you can participate in the competition through ESA. Please send your entry by letter to the following address:
Cheops drawing competition
European Space Agency / ESTEC
SRE-A Office Ba 115
PO Box 299
NL-2200 AG Noordwijk
The Netherlands
How many drawings can I send?
Only one entry per participant is permitted. If we receive multiple entries from the same participant, only the first entry will be considered.
What drawing supplies can I use?
The entries must be drawn on the standard template provided here, printed on DIN A4 paper. The drawings must be in black and white, and made using a black pencil or felt-tip pen. Using the template drawing sheet and the black and white technique is crucial to the miniaturisation needed to fit the drawings onto the plaques, so please stick to these instructions. Entries not drawn on the standard template or that contain colourful drawings will not be accepted. We recommend printing the standard drawing sheet on paper with a weight of not less than 150 g/sq m.
Are there any restrictions on the subject of the drawing?
You can be as creative as you like, as long as you let yourself be inspired by the theme of space and/or by the Cheops space telescope, which will observe planets in orbit around nearby stars. Entries found to be inappropriate on religious, racial, gender, political or other grounds will be declared ineligible, without appeal or recourse.
Where can I find information about the Cheops mission?
You can read about Cheops on the dedicated ESA webpages (http://sci.esa.int/cheops/) and on the mission webpages from the University of Bern (http://cheops.unibe.ch).
What is the closing date?
Entries will be accepted as long as they are mailed before 31 October 2015. The postmark will be considered proof of the date of mailing.
Who will choose which drawings will go to space?
Entries will be collected by ESA and its Cheops mission partners. Up to 3000 drawings can be accommodated on the plaques that will be sent into space on the satellite. If possible, all submitted drawings will be sent into space, but if more than 3000 entries are submitted, ESA and its partners will organise a lottery to select the drawings to be engraved on the plaque.
When and how will the selected drawings be announced?
The announcement will be in 2016.
When will the drawings be launched into space?
The drawings will be miniaturised and engraved onto two plaques, which will be attached to the satellite. The mission is planned for launch at the end of 2017.
Can I join via email, an online form, or social media?
No, because we need to receive the original drawing in order to transfer it to the metal plaques, so you must send in your entry by post.
If I have a problem with my entry, or a question about the competition, whom should I contact?
Please use the competition email address: CheopsCompetition@cosmos.esa.int
For questions regarding the national competitions run by ESA’s mission partners, please check the details provided on their web pages.
Can I participate if I live outside of Europe?
The competition is limited to participants who are resident in an ESA Member State or an ESA Cooperating State.
ESA Member States: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Canada takes part in some projects under a Cooperation agreement.
ESA Cooperating States: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
I don’t speak English: can I still join?
Yes, but please note that communications about the ESA competition will be in English.
If you are a resident of one of the Cheops consortium country members (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK), you are kindly requested to join your local competition, which will be run in the language(s) of each country. More information about the national competitions here.
How old do I have to be to join?
You must be 8–14 years old (inclusive) any time in 2015. One of your parents or legal guardians must agree to the competition rules by signing the template drawing sheet.
One (or both) of my parents/guardians or other close family members works at ESA or at a Cheops mission partner agency or research institute: can I still participate?
Yes, you are still eligible to participate.
Do I have to fill in the feedback questionnaire that is distributed on the competition web page?
No, it is not compulsory to fill in the feedback questionnaire. However, we would appreciate if you and/or your parents/guardians or your teacher could take a few minutes to answer to these questions, which will be used for the internal assessment of the competition. Please add the questionnaire sheet in the envelope together with your drawing. We assure you that any information you provide will be treated with strict confidentiality.
What language can I use to fill in the feedback questionnaire?
English is the preferred language for the feedback questionnaire, but you can answer the questions in any European language.
