This thirteen-year-old builds a satellite that can produce oxygen in space

Thirteen-Year-Old Wins Space Agency Competition By Creating A Model Satellite That Will Produce Oxygen On Mars

The recently concluded “Satellite is Born” competition held by the Israel Space Agency saw 13-year-old, Roni Oron, from Ramat Hasharon, Israel emerge as the winner. All those young children who are aged between 12-15 and have a desire for designing model satellites that can impact science and humanity in a positive way can take part in the competition.

According to the Isreali youth magazine “Ma’ariv L’Noar,” Oron’s winning idea is called Bio Sat which through the use of photosynthesis aims “to solve a problem for astronauts trying to prove that life on Mars is possible.”

Oron explained that the Bio Sat is “built like a large bubble on one side of which there is a mirror and the other is transparent, enabling the penetration of sunlight. In the middle there is a capsule, which will be made of a membrane through which air can pass but water cannot. Inside of it there will be water and algae, and outside there will be carbon dioxide. Through a process of photosynthesis, the satellite will produce oxygen. There will be additional mirrors inside the satellite that will enable sunlight to reach the capsule, but not by direct radiation, which would harm the algae.”

Oron credited her parents who supported her passion for science:

“My father, an orthopedist, was very happy when I began my research. From my mother I learned the wisdom of looking at life creatively.”

Later this year, Oron will attend the NASA summer camp in Florida as the winner of the competition. She explained:

“This will be sort of a beginning for the development of this idea, a kind of camp in which you meet with many astronauts and [other] teens. We will arrive there as guests of honor, stay there until very late hours to develop the satellite, and then we’ll see where it goes.”