austraLasia 1673

Aussie Salesian student part of winning team at Russian International Space Olympics

MOSCOW: 27th October 2006 -- David Bentley, a 16 year old student at St Joseph's College Ferntree Gully (an outer Melbourne suburban Salesian secondary college) has just had the experience of being a member of the winning team at the International Space Olympics held this past fortnight in Moscow.  The Australian team, a first-time entry in an special intellectual Olympics now in its 12th year comprises all Scouts or Guides, a team of ten of Australia's most outstanding young minds.  The Aussie team brought about Russia's first defeat in these Olympics.  All the major space 'players' on the globe entered teams, including, obviously, the US, UK, Europe and Kazakhstan, all four of which have been major contributors to space exploration in the past.
    The Space Olympics teams are required to come up with ideas, which they then present via a visual presentation, which are innovative responses to problems in space exploration.  One of the Australian team members presented an original idea which has caught the interest of the European Space Agency and is likely to be adopted by them - an original method for dealing with fire in a space capsule or laboratory.  The idea involves a canister filled with a special gel...the gel comes from a substance used in babies nappies!
    St Joseph's College is understandably proud of David, who has had the opportunity to visit the Russian Mission Control, speak to astronauts aboard the international space station, and visit the cosmonaut training centre. The event concludes 28th October. Congratulations Australia!
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