Brazilian school wins the award in the Research Category of the Apollo Space Contest sponsored by HISPASAT

May 23, 2019

The research prize, this year focusing on the topic “Usefulness and Benefit of Satellites”, has been awarded to the work entitled “Até que ponto a tecnología dos satélites que disponibilizou o sistema GPS influencia no tempo da vida das pessoas” presented by the Miguel de Cervantes School in São Paulo (Brazil).

The Brazilian team made up of Mariana Camargo Rubim, Rafaela Boyadjian Anjos and Camila Castillo Paranhos will enjoy an all-expenses paid space camp in Madrid in June which will include a visit to the operator's satellite control centre in Arganda del Rey.

MADRID, 23 May 2019. The jury of the seventh annual Apollo Ibero-American Space Contest, intended for students between 14 and 16 years old, has made its decision and publicised the winners. The prize for the Research category, sponsored by the Spanish satellite telecommunications operator, HISPASAT, has been awarded to the work entitled Até que ponto a tecnología dos satélites que disponibilizou o sistema GPS influencia no tempo da vida das pessoas, presented by the Miguel de Cervantes Secondary School in São Paulo (Brazil). The project was carried out by a team made up of the students Mariana Camargo Rubim, Rafaela Boyadjian Anjos and Camila Castillo Paranhos and supervised by the teacher Patrícia Aparecida Campos.

This year students participating in the Research category were asked to work on the "Usefulness and Benefits of Satellites" and how satellites contribute to developing science, helping society and improving people's lives.

The prize winning work aims to show how geopositioning satellites can contribute to our well-being by reducing our travel times. The winning team has designed and implemented an experiment to collect real data from two groups of people who have to travel through a maze with or without directions of the path to follow. Based on the experimental data, the students conclude that using GPS technology provided by satellites is a very effective means to cut down on our travel times and save time for other activities.

The jury appreciated the work's originality, the use of an experimental design as the basis of the demonstration and its ingenious proposal, as well as the students' ability to involve other people in their project and to apply scientific methodology. The prize winners from each category will receive an all-expenses paid week's stay in Madrid where they will visit space research centres, speak with scientists and technology experts and participate in other cultural and educational activities.

This year 252 teams from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, and Peru have participated in the Apollo Space Contest. Thanks to Hispasat's patronage, this is the first year the contest has included Brazil, which has given a warm welcome to the initiative with 40 works presented to the contest. In the words of Cristina Perez Cantó, the company's Communications Director, "for HISPASAT it is a source of pride that a Brazilian school has won the prize in the research category. HISPASAT has an extensive presence in Brazil, where the company's subsidiary HISPAMAR operates. These types of initiatives help spread knowledge concerning the space sector and create technological jobs that will promote future studies related with satellite telecommunications".

The contest aims to arouse students' interest in science and bridge the current divide between science and the humanities with an inclusive focus for all cultural expressions, featuring six different categories: research, narrative/comics, robotics, multimedia, artistic, and experimental. The contest is organised by the National Aerospace Technical Institute (INTA), the University of Zaragoza, the Albireo Foundation and the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) of Peru. The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the COTEC Foundation and the magazine Muy Interesante also collaborate.

About HISPASAT

HISPASAT is comprised of companies that have a presence in Spain as well as in Latin America, where its Brazilian affiliate HISPAMAR is based HISPASAT is a world leader in content distribution in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries and its satellite fleet is used by important direct-to-home television (DTH) and high-definition television (HDTV) digital platforms. HISPASAT also provides satellite broadband and connectivity services, which include broadband access, mobility and the backhaul networks, in addition to other added value solutions for governments, companies and telecommunication operators in America, Europe and North Africa. HISPASAT is one of the world's largest companies in its sector in terms of revenue, and the main communications bridge between Europe and the Americas.

www.hispasat.com

Press contact:

Natalia Cuesta – t +34 91 710 25 40 – ncuesta@hispasat.es

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