Education: news from the first half of 2024

L’Espace C Classe (Space is ace) educational outreach programme, which ran from February to April 2024, has now come to an end.

Throughout the period, CNES, the french space agency employees visited the secondary schools and colleges that submitted a request, across French Guiana. The highly interactive encounters give students the chance to meet space industry professionals and discuss the activities performed at Europe’s spaceport, talk about Space and the wide range of jobs at Europe’s spaceport. It could well spark a few vocations...

L’Espace C Classe (Space is ace) educational outreach programme has been running in French Guiana since 2022, in partnership with the Local Education Authority.

The picture below shows Jean-Phillipe Murat, Head of Telecommunications and IT, Guillain Binel, Deputy Assistant Director of Operations and Technical Resources, and Evelyne Patient, Human Resources Coordinator at CNES, in Apatou visiting MA AIYE secondary school.

Eleven candidates vied for first place at the regional final of the “Ma Thèse en 180 secondes” (My thesis in 180 seconds)* competition, held on 5 March in the Encre auditorium.

Armed with their passion, their eloquence and a single presentation slide, their mission was to present the results of their research in less than 3 minutes (180 s). The winners of the 2024 regional final:  Emmanuelle Clervil (Jury Prize) and Thibault Laffargue (Audience Prize), who will represent the University of French Guiana at the national final in Nice.

The event is organised every year by the University of French Guiana, in partnership with the CNES.

On 9 April 2024, the regional final of the C Génial (Totally Awesome) competition was held at Europe’s spaceport. Seventy students presented 13 science projects, but no less than 200 students worked on the projects this year.

The “secondary school” 1st prize was awarded to the “Mousti-Hyasine” project run by young people from Ms. Marine Deveau’s science club at the Just Hyasine secondary school in Macouria. Their project involved developing a mosquito repellent using environmental bacteria found on adult yellow fever mosquitoes. They will have the opportunity to represent French Guiana in the national final at the Air and Space Museum in Le Bourget.

The “primary school” 1st prize went to the project called “Quand la nature nous habille” (When nature dresses us) by the year 2 pupils of Ms. Séverine Guibert and Ms. Julie Dautomne from Eugène Honorien primary school in Rémire.

On Wednesday 10 April, the preparatory class for students hoping to sit the entrance exams for prestigious universities, from Léon Gontran Damas college, visited Europe’s spaceport. The visit was tailor-made for the occasion and had a more professional slant, giving the young people a chance to see the GALLIOT station on Montagne des Pères and the payload preparation building.

Guides from Europe’s spaceport also visited the Athis Latidine school in Sinnamary for an “off-site” visit. The programme included a presentation of the activities performed at Europe’s spaceport, a film screening and a water-rocket construction workshop.

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