Physics student, Greg Smith, from Kent, has won a competition to take part in cosmonaut training in Moscow, Russia, this Spring.
SEPnet (South-East Physics network) and the University of Kent’s Department of Physical Sciences offered 2 physics undergraduates or postgraduate students the chance to attend the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre to develop their team building and communication skills by training like the real Cosmonauts and Astronauts on the same equipment and facilities.
The competition was launched to mark the momentous visit by Tim Peake to the International Space Centre.
Entrants had to create a 2-minute video describing an investigation that they would like to send into space. The criteria were they had to be a physics student at one of SEPnet’s partner universities at the time of travel, have a valid passport, be eligible to enter Russia and available to travel from 19th to 25th March 2016.
Physics students, Greg Smith (University of Kent) and Kieran Hashmi (Queen Mary, University of London) produced the winning videos selected by a panel of six SEPnet partner judges. They said they were impressed by the quality of all the applications and the students’ creative use of visuals and good scientific knowledge.
Greg, from Tenterden, now lives in Canterbury. He studied for a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Aeronautical Engineering at Loughborough University before undertaking a European MSc Physics at the University of Kent. He is now preparing for his astronaut training this March.