Mexican youth launches 20 nanosatellites into space

The Mexican Space Agency (AEM) participated in the third edition of the " Aguascalientes al Espacio " ( Aguascalientes into Space ) project, in which 20 nanosatellites were launched to the stratosphere.

The general director of the AEM, Javier Mendieta Jiménez , claimed Mexico had ranked third in the "World Space Week" UN 2018 , the largest space event in the world, with 180 thousand participants .

In last year’s competition, Aguascalientes stood out as one of the most relevant Mexican states in terms of space education.

The event, held in cooperation with the Institute for the Development of the Knowledge Society of the State of Aguascalientes (IDSCEA) and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) was led by the Minister of Economic Development, Luis Ricardo Martínez , the state governor’s representative.

Martínez Castañeda highlighted that the AEM had brought together 41 institutions of basic, middle, and higher education for the project, which featured the participation of more than 300 children and young people , and nearly 1,200 attendees.

Girls, boys, and young people participated in this educational call to stimulate their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, with the development and launch of these "stratospheric nanosatellites" 40 kilometers above sea level , with different applications, such as telemetry (remote measurement) of altitude, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and satellite geolocation.

The AEM said in a statement that competitions were carried out in categories "CanSat 0," for the basic and medium level, and "CanSat 1," for medium and higher levels, in which the students applied their knowledge in different areas of the aerospace sector.

The director of the Dissemination of Science and Space Technology department at the AEM , Mario Arreola Santander , also gave a lecture on space technology and operation of astronaut suits, supported by a 3D animation of the costume of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield .

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