Levenmouth pupil to reach for the stars in space exploration bid

Fife girl, 16, will travel to US and help organise mission to Mars

A Fife schoolgirl is to take part in a groundbreaking space exploration project this summer.

While many of her peers will be involved in placements close to home, 16-year-old Cailyn Calder is jetting off to Houston, Texas, where she will help plan a manned mission to Mars.

The Levenmouth Academy pupil is one of only two Scottish teenagers selected for the two-week project at the prestigious United Space School.

Her success is, in part, due to an innovative partnership between her school and ORE Catapult, one of the UK’s leading technology and research centres for offshore renewable energy.

The organisation has been involved with the high school since 2015 when it acquired the 600ft wind turbine in Buckhaven, which is used for the research and development of new technologies for the offshore wind, wave and tidal energy industries.

It wanted the community to benefit from the turbine and helped establish a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) club for secondary pupils in Levenmouth. It now sponsors the post of principal teacher for STEM within the school and the result is a huge increase in interest in the subject and the addition of two more classes.

Cailyn is not the only pupil to reap rewards from the approach.

Rhiannon Grant, 13, recently won a national STEM award for an innovative idea that involved building a drone with a first aid kit on board to ensure help can be delivered quickly.

Both girls have hailed the opportunities they have been given and said they were excited about the future.

Cailyn said: “I’ll be planning a hypothetical mission to Mars with people from 48 countries. It’s really exciting. A lot of children don’t get the opportunities we have.”

Rhiannon said she had been involved with the STEM club since starting secondary school and added: “It’s getting really exciting and interesting.

“We get to do a lot with the school that’s really unique.”

Tayside student Aidan Macrae is also shooting for the starts after securing a visit to an Arctic space base.

The former Monifieth High School pupil is in the second year of a degree in Aero Space Systems at Glasgow University.

The Fly A Rocket Challenge at Norway’s Andoya Space Centre saw him tasked with launching a small rocket into the troposphere — the lowest level of the Earth’s atmosphere. cwarrender@thecourier.co.uk

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We get to do a lot with the school that’s really unique. RHIANNON GRANT

Picture: Steve Brown. Levenmouth Academy pupil Cailyn Calder is off to Texas for a special project.