Three South African students are celebrating a major international achievement after their team won a global space design competition at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Zayaan Abdurahman, Benjamin Honigwachs and Dean Weich were part of Team ZA, which competed against students from around the world to design a spacecraft capable of carrying 3,000 people.
Speaking to VOC News, Abdurahman described the moment they were announced as winners as “a surreal moment”, saying the team’s weeks of preparation had paid off.
The competition required the students to develop different aspects of the spacecraft, from structural design and human factors to propulsion, operations and business planning.
Honigwachs, who worked in the structures department, says the project required them to consider challenges unique to space travel.
“Space is very different from our Earth’s atmosphere, so I had to account for radiation and for small micro asteroids,” he says.
Weich says working alongside students from countries including Brazil, China, Australia, the UK and the United States was one of the highlights of the experience.
The students also used their achievement to encourage young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Weich says STEM is “the forefront of innovation”, while Honigwachs urged young people to remain curious and explore unfamiliar ideas.
Abdurahman says opportunities should also be embraced.
“You always have to take every opportunity you get. Sometimes you never know how far it could take you,” she says.
Photo: Supplied/ WCED
