Catalina Reyes and Francisca Broudissond, fourth and third year Chuquicamata School students respectively, were two of the six winners of the national competition, which consisted of creating a model of a lunar base, which had to sustain the lives of 10 astronauts. on the natural satellite.
In the process, they had to send a video in English explaining what the structure was going to be like, and a two-page report on the project.
After having managed to win this contest, both obtained the opportunity to travel to Washington, United States, and then go to the Rocket Space Center in Alabama.
However, since language skills are a requirement, Francisca will not be able to participate in this experience.
“I made it to the final, and my project was the most outstanding, I think it was because I did it by hand. Unfortunately, I couldn’t travel because my English is terrible. Because of my bad English, I missed the tremendous opportunity to travel to another country to learn more things and see more places. But for me, learning English is a goal, which gives me more strength to learn more things,” she commented.
As for Catalina, she mentioned that “For me, it is a tremendous experience, I am very excited, I think it will be something unique.”
The models
The 3D model of Catalina was inspired by obtaining energy from Cerro Dominador, which would allow it to obtain energy during the 14 days of sun on the moon and store it in batteries for the other 14 days without sunlight.
As for food, it would consist of hydroponic crops. And, furthermore, it was based on the chemical processes and the oxygen system of the space base.
“I was inspired by Cerro Dominador, which is a new way of acquiring energy with mirrors, which absorb the energy, and it passes through turbines with salts, and thus it is transformed into electrical energy, which is stored in batteries” Reyes explained.
On the other hand, Francisca’s handmade model was inspired by the cubicles in Japan for the rooms of the 10 astronauts, she also added a space for storing water tanks and oxygen tanks, a laboratory, pressure chambers , infirmary and a gym.
Along these lines, the student expressed the importance of the gym for astronauts, since, “by not having the same gravity as on Earth, the human body becomes “lazier,” then it begins to lose muscle, and that can affect to human functions, that is why it is important to have a space to exercise.”
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