Deadline:
February 15, 2025
Location(s)
Online United States of America
Overview
This contest has been held annually since 1994, and it is a direct descendant of Professor O’Neill’s original thought experiment, but instead of college freshman the contest is designed for students up to 12th grade. Students are not given any requirements other than the project must focus on a free space settlement concept. Settlements may not be on a planet or moon, although support activities such as mining may be. Settlements must be permanent homes, not temporary work camps. Submissions may focus on one or a few aspects of space settlement and supporting systems, including mines, activities leading up to settlement (such as space hotels), economic and social issues, etc. Designs, original research, essays, stories, models, artwork or any other orbital space settlement related materials may be submitted.
Details
Discussion
Space settlements are permanent communities in orbit, as opposed to living on the Moon or other planets. The work of Princeton physicist Dr. O'Neill and others have shown that such colonies are technically feasible, although expensive. Settlers of this high frontier are expected to live inside large air-tight rotating structures holding hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people along with the animals, plants, and single celled organisms vital to comfort and survival. There are many advantages to living in orbit: zero-g recreation, environmental independence, plentiful solar energy, and terrific views to name a few. There is plenty of room for everyone who wants to go; the materials from a single asteroid can build space colonies with living space equal to about 500 times the surface area of the Earth.
We hope teachers will make this contest part of their lesson plan. While designing a space colony, students will have a chance to study physics, mathematics, space science, environmental science, and many other disciplines. We would like students outside the science classes to participate as well. Thus, contest submissions may include designs, essays, stories, models, and artwork. Students can design entire colonies or focus on one aspect of orbital living. A class or school may submit a joint project where small teams tackle different areas in a coordinated fashion. For example, consider a cross curriculum project where science classes design the basic structure and support systems, art students create pictures of the interior and exterior, English students write related short stories, social studies students develop government and social systems, Industrial Technology builds a scale model, and the football team proposes low-g sports.
Contest
This annual contest is for all students at up to 12th grade from anywhere in the world. Individuals, small teams of two to five, and large teams of six to twelve are judged separately. No more than 12 students on a project. (This year only: if you have already started with more than 12 students and win, reply to the winner notification email to get a certificate with all the student’s names.) Entries are also grouped by age/grade of the oldest contestant for judging. The age groups are 7th and younger, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th. The grand prize is awarded to the best entry regardless of contestant age. Students develop space settlement designs and related materials.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Contest categories are:
- 7th grade and younger: individual, small group, large group,
- 8th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 9th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 10th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 11th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 12th grade: individual, small group, large group.
Additional categories based on artistic and literary merit are also included in the contest.
Dates
Deadline: February 15, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
Contest deadline, prizes, and certificates:
- All submissions must be received by February 15 at 02:00am PST.
- Participant certificates will be distributed in PDF form. You will get a link to this certificate when you submit your entry.
- Winner certificates, also in PDF format, will include the names of the students. These should arrive via email by late August to the registered user email address.
- The best submission, regardless of category, wins the grand prize. The submission will be hosted on the contest web site. Finally, the highest ranking entry whose student(s) attend(s) ISDC will receive the Herman Rubin Memorial Scholarship of $5,000 and give a talk at the conference.
- Contest categories are
- 7th grade and younger: individual, small group (2-5 students), large group (6-12 students),
- 8th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 9th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 10th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 11th grade: individual, small group, large group,
- 12th grade: individual, small group, large group.
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