Our Space - Digital Adventures in Space

NEWS FLASH - COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

The winners of the first Our Space Competition were announced at a special event at the Farnborough International Airshow on Friday 23rd July 2010. To view the winning entries, go to the Competition News page.

THE COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED - but the Our Space website will remain for you to use freely!

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Video message - Science competitions

Who Can Enter?

• 14-18 year olds (an illustrated essay, film or digital mash-up of no more than 3 minutes or with a word count of 1200 - 1750 words).

• Under 13 year olds (an illustrated essay with a word count of no more than 600 words entitled 'An Adventure in Space', or a film or digital mash-up of no more than 2 minutes).

The competition is open to students in full-time education or who are home-educated.

Ages are based on your age as at 31 December 2009

What We are Looking For

Entries which:

• use Richard’s mission as a springboard for their own imaginative space adventure.
• tell the story of the science behind Richard’s experiments designed by UK students as part of the Richard in Space competition.
• recount Richard’s adventures in an entertaining and factual way.

We are looking for entries which:

• are original and entertain us, tell a story or inform us, keep to the point, are factually accurate, and do not infringe copyright protections.
• are in one of the accepted formats (see the How to Upload section below)

Don't forget, you can also add your own content by filming yourself or recording a voice over.

The Prizes

Here are the amazing things you can win!

Individual 14 and over age group:

• Grand Prize: Two individual First Prizes of an amazing once-in-a-lifetime, all expenses paid student trip to Kennedy Space Centre in Florida and Johnson Space Centre in Houston under the care of leading space education provider International Space School Education Trust, along with the winners’ package below.
• Runners Up Prizes: Ten individual winners’ packages - see the full details below.

Individual 13 and under age group:

• Grand Prize: Two First Prizes of an iPod Touch and also the individual winners’ package below.
• Runners Up Prizes: Ten individual winners’ packages see the full details below.

The Winners’s package:

The Our Space Winners’ package contains:
• an exclusive invite to the Farnborough International Air Show
• a special invite to World Space Week celebrations at the INTECH Science Centre and Planetarium, Winchester.
• an invite for the student and one adult to visit the National Space Centre, Leicester.
• an opportunity to show off your winning entry to members of the Parliamentary Space Committee at the House of Commons in London.
• a signed and framed copy of Richard’s Mission Patch.
• a signed copy of Lucy Hawking’s new book.

The Class Prize

We also have a marvellous Class Prize, from our friends at the National Space Centre, Leicester. The class that has submitted the most entries (both team and individual) by the closing date will receive an invite to a free “Challenger” mission day at the National Space Centre Leicester (maximum of 34 students), while there the class will also tour the National Space Centre. The judges can award this class prize in either age group. Class prize entries should be submitted by a teacher or educator on behalf of their class, and keep that maximum number in mind.

In the event of a tie-breaker between entrants for the Class Prize, the winner will be decided using the same judging criteria as used for the individual prizes.

The dates to remember

Closing date: 8th July 2010
Farnborough Air Show: 23rd July 2010

Check out the small print

Please see the Rules section for full details, dates and restrictions for all our prizes. The competition organisers retain the right to modify the prizes on offer. Please check the News and Tips & Guidance sections of the website regularly for any updates.

Ages are based on entrant's age as at 31 December 2009

How to win?

The judges will look for the following, in this order, in all the entries in both age groups:

1- Creativity
First and foremost we will be looking for your creativity - how have you taken your ideas and turned them into something compelling and exciting for your final entry. We are looking for good stories, stories that make us think, stories that make us feel, stories that make us learn, stories that show your enthusiasm for space.

2- Good Research
Good research helps you tell better stories and explain science better, so find out all you can about your story topic before you start out and plan how you will tell your tale. The judges will look at the research you have undertaken to create your entry, have you learned new things beyond the content of the Our Space website.

3- Skills used
There are loads of digital tools out there to create with; some require more skill than others. While creativity and good storytelling is the main thing, judges can also take into consideration the technical skill needed to create your entry too, particularly in the older age categories.

4- Professionalism
Have you have created your own pictures or music; have you avoided any copyright problems; have you worked to create your entry in a professional way?

If you need further information, you can contact us.

If you have any technical problems with this website, please email: help@our-space.org.