Junior astronauts reach for the stars with Space Ranger Pete
Kids are being encouraged to describe their visions of an imaginary space community to win a chance to attend a training weekend for junior astronauts at the European Space Centre in Belgium. From 20 to 22 April the budding astronauts will be put through their paces, learning the art of space walking, running their own space mission, piloting a space capsule and re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Association of plastics manufactures in Europe (APME) have teamed up to organise the competition, which is open to 10 to 15 year olds in Austria, Belgium France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 'The contest is based on an interactive CD ROM, called 'Space Mission: Y3K, which explores space technology and shows some concrete uses of that technology in enhancing the quality of life on Earth,' says ESA. The story features an animated character called 'Space Ranger Pete', who invites children to join in his journey from Earth to space through the control room in the spacecraft to a planet, satellites and finally the International Space Station. 'Along the way, the user jots down clues that he or she discovers in this exploration, designing an imaginary space community and putting together a submission for the contest,' ESA explains. A number of youth media channels around Europe will promote the contest over the next month.