PASB students win medals at Jornada de Foguetes, a rocketry competition in Rio de Janeiro

Seven PASB students were invited to join Jornada de Foguetes, an academic rocketry competition organized by the Physics Institute of the State University of Rio de Janeiro. They represented our state, Bahia, in the event, which was held from March 20 to March 23 in Barra do Piraí, in Rio de Janeiro. The top three school teams from MOBFOG, the Brazilian Rocketry Exhibition, will attend this event. 

During the competition, students have to build and launch a rocket using simple, low-cost materials, following the technical specifications given by the organization. Once ready, the rocket should be launched vertically to reach the most significant distance. The Rocket Journey is supported by the Brazilian Space Agency and the Brazilian Astronomical Society and aims to encourage students of all ages to learn and develop their skills in aerospace science.

The PASB teams brought home two gold medals and a silver medal. One of our teams’ rockets also reached the 3rd longest distance out of all the launches in the competition (241m). Besides the awards, our Panthers were also elected as Best Performance by the event’s attendees.

The coordinator of PASB’s Astronomy Club, teacher Flávia Batista, highlights the students’ participation in the Journey as a great opportunity. “Our students are living an incredible experience and building important skills for the future, both for academic education and personal life, as they develop the ability to think critically and creatively, to work in teams, solve problems, and apply knowledge in practical situations. All the learning will be shared with other students in our school community. It is rewarding to see all the excitement, academic growth, and leadership spirit they are demonstrating,” she says.

A Year 10 student, Maria Eduarda Luz, who has participated in the Astronomy Club for four years, was one of those selected to participate in the journey. Before travelling, she told us all about her excitement about the event and her expectations of bringing the title of champion. “The preparation process was intense, it required a lot of teamwork, creativity to build the rockets and knowledge of Physics for all the calculations of force and trajectories. There, we will have many activities and workshops, besides, of course, the presentation of our rockets. I am very excited about this opportunity”, she declared.

To learn more about PASB’s Astronomy Club, contact the Activities Coordinator at activities@pasb.com.br or visit the Panther Afterschool Program website.