7 Western Cape Teenagers Win NASA Space Design Competition as First African Team
- Seven Western Cape learners became the first South African and African team to compete at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
- The students joined peers from six countries to form a 60-person simulated aerospace company that designed a deep-space vessel called Hermes
- One student took home an individual award at the prestigious International Space Settlement Design Competition
PAY ATTENTION: Mark Briefly News as a preferred source, and our content will appear higher in your Google feed!
Source: Instagram
Seven teenagers from the Western Cape have made South African history by winning one of the world's most prestigious space design competitions, held at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The students, Benjamin Honigwachs, Dean Weich, Zayaan Abdurahman, Joseph Allderman, Ethan Schoombee, Alaya Kaplen, and Qayalah Omar, earned their place at the International Space Settlement Design Competition after winning a national qualifier at the University of Cape Town. Under the guidance of competition founder Jagger Cooper-Doubell, the group spent months preparing before making the trip to the United States.
A first for Africa
According to reports, at the finals, the South African learners joined students from the United States, Australia, China, Brazil, and the United Kingdom to form a 60-student multinational simulated aerospace company called Rockdonnell. It was the first team in the competition's history to include representatives from every inhabited continent on Earth.
PAY ATTENTION: You can now search for all your favourite news and topics on Briefly News.
Working against tight deadlines and across language barriers, the group designed Hermes, a deep-space vessel built to carry 3,000 passengers through the inner Solar System to Mercury. Each student played a defined role. Honigwachs worked on the ship's structural blueprint, while Allderman and Schoombee handled propulsion, successfully arguing for nuclear fission power over speculative fusion energy. Abdurahman designed the life-support systems, and Weich and Omar developed the financial models to prove the vessel's economic viability.
Recognition at the Highest Level
Following a rigorous presentation before NASA experts and a retired astronaut, team Rockdonnell was awarded first place globally. Joseph Allderman also received the individual Anita Gale Creative Genius Prize for his contribution to the project.
Beyond the competition, the students toured NASA facilities and visited iconic exhibits, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Their win has already sparked broader ambitions. Plans are now under way to expand the South African Space Design Competition nationally, with the goal of giving more local students access to opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
See the Facebook post below:
More on South African achievers
- Briefly News recently reported on Comrades Marathon champion George Kusche as he prepares to swap long-distance running for a much faster road-racing challenge.
- Robert Marawa paid tribute to former world boxing champion Zolani Tete following his tragic death, remembering a career filled with major achievements.
- Fifteen-year-old Benoni go-kart racer Emma-Rose Dowling celebrated another major milestone after securing an international podium finish and promising that this is only the beginning.
PAY ATTENTION: Follow Briefly News on Twitter and never miss the hottest topics! Find us at @brieflyza!
Source: Briefly News
