NEW’S | Regional Government wants to motivate young people for scientific knowledge in space sector

The Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency, Pedro de Faria e Castro stated in Vila do Porto that the Government’s investment in CanSat Junior Açores aims to “motivate children and young people” as well as to “arouse interest in technological areas and scientific knowledge in the space sector.”

“Space is an area of the future,” said the Regional Under Secretary, who was chairing, on behalf of the President of the Government, the closing session of the CanSat Junior Açores competition that took place on the island of Santa Maria.

“With these field initiatives, involving regional schools, we want to increase motivation and awaken any potential professional interest they may eventually have,” said Pedro de Faria e Castro.

The government official also pointed out the “major success” of this initiative, congratulating all the participants in general and, in particular, the teams that got the three top places: “Cagarros” from Santa Maria Basic Education and Secondary School (1st place), “SpaceNerds” from Domingos Rebelo Secondary School on São Miguel Island (2nd place) and “Azores at Space” from Lagoa Secondary School on São Miguel Island (3rd place).

The final of the CanSat Junior Açores involved about one hundred participants, including junir high school students and teachers from seven islands of the archipelago, with 13 teams from 12 schools.

CanSat Júnior is one of the projects that the Office of the Regional Under Secretary of the Presidency and EMA-Space intend to leverage in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, as a strategy to boost the priority axis – Dissemination, Education and Scientific Culture for Space, under the Azores Strategy for Space. This competition was launched in Portugal by Ciência Viva and ESERO Portugal, and consists of a simplified version of CanSat created by the European Space Agency – ESA.

GRA/RÁDIOILHÉU