At just 23, Solange Cunin is making space history. She is the driving force behind Australia's first payload to the International Space Station. And the aerospace engineering student is making her mark with the help of hundreds of NSW high school students.
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"We had to get special approval from 16 other nations who take part in the ISS because Australia has never been involved with it before," said Ms Cunin, a student at the University of NSW.
Science and Industry Minister Christopher Pyne this month signed the first "Overseas Launch Certificate" ever issued by the Australian government.
Ms Cunin has enlisted the bright ideas of students from 40 NSW high schools to prepare a piece of hardware that will run 60 experiments in space. All of the experiments are written in Python computer code and loaded up into a piece of kit that will be tested by NASA scientists before rocketing up into Earth orbit.
The 1st #startup in Australia to get approved by the Govt to fly a mission to #space. #HistoryInTheMaking pic.twitter.com/lrR9mu9o1T— Quberider (@Quberider) May 3, 2016
Students will use the hardware on board the ISS to test variations in the Earth's magnetic field, Einstein's theory of relativity, measure astronaut's exposure to radiation or use data patterns to create music and art. Ms Cunin said boys and girls were equally represented in the program.
Last year Ms Cunin launched Quberider with University of Technology, Sydney, student Sebastian Chaoui. The idea was simple: a ride-sharing service for space to lower the cost of launching experiments and small satellites. Through her company's connection with US firms DreamUp and Nanoracks, Ms Cunin is able to on-sell payload space on a rocket to the ISS.
And students at NSW high schools are benefiting. Quberider's focus is to support education in science, technology, education and maths.
"We want to give students a unique experience and help them engage more meaningfully with STEM subjects," Ms Cunin said. "Giving a student a space mission is probably the best way to do that."
Tempe High School Year 10 student Marcus Garvey said he was excited to be sending an experiment into space. "It's a practical application for our coding skills," he said. "Previously we'd only really applied coding to games. This has career potential."
His research partner, Eden Neilson, said: "Our experiment will look at the correlation between the magnetic field of the Earth and weather anomalies on the ground."
Solange Cunin with Tempe High School students Michael Chau, Jacky Xie, Joseph Xu, Marcus Garvey and Eden Neilson. Photo: Steven Siewert
Forty high schools in NSW are busy coding about 60 experiments to run on a piece of hardware called "Asimov" that fits into a module the size of a large coffee mug. The Asimov module has 10 sensors that collect data that is sent back to the students to prepare their reports.
"The students are learning how to program, how to code, how to do big data analytics, think critically and design creative solutions. These are 21st century skills industry is demanding," Ms Cunin said.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida en route to the International Space Station in April. Photo: AP
Michael Chau at Tempe High said: "To have an experiment in space is definitely thrilling. I'm a bit nervous actually."
"It's a great opportunity," said Eden Neilson.
Australia's first ISS space mission is set to blast off onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on June 24, weather permitting.
The Asimov unit has 10 sensors for running experiments on the International Space Station through Quberider.
