We had so much fun at Petrie Terrace State School in Brisbane showing students the ELO2 lunar rover prototype being developed as part of the Australian Space Agency’s Moon to Mars Trailblazer Program. ELO₂ project team members Ben Sorensen and Robbie Wild from EPE. Trusted To Protect’s Innovation team were delighted with the enthusiasm and curiosity from the students. The rover will be tasked with collecting Moon soil to extract oxygen for the creation of rocket fuel and other mission consumables.
An important part of the project is bringing Australians on our country’s first mission to the Moon with the ELO2 lunar rover and inspiring young people to pursue careers in STEM and space. One of these students could be the first Australian astronaut to step foot on the Moon! The classes of potential future scientists/engineers/space explorers asked questions that demonstrated strong scientific understanding.
This is just a snapshot of some of the comments made to their teachers – “I thought it was so cool that we might actually be able to create a habitat for humans”, “I didn’t know that it got up to 200 degrees Celsius on the Moon – that’s fascinating”, “ I thought it was really cool because we learnt all this new information – like how cold it can get.”
A treasured moment from Rafferty Sorensen: “When I saw it I thought my dad was the coolest person in the room.”