We are also feeling excited, because Tim and our Head of Youth Partnerships, Olympia Brown, are talking to British TV and radio shows today about all things space and Astro Pi, including the exciting new developments and how families can get involved! You might catch Tim on your favourite channel.

Tim Peake has been our Astro Pi champion from the start

Tim says: “I had the privilege to take the first Astro Pi computers to the International Space Station in 2015. Since then, more than 50,000 children have run experiments and sent messages into orbit. The Astro Pi Challenge is a great activity for children and their parents to discover more about coding and to use digital tools to be creative.”

During his space mission, Tim Peake deployed Astro Pi units Ed and Izzy in a number of different locations on board the ISS. He was responsible for loading the Astro Pi participants’ programs onto Ed and Izzy, collecting the data they generated, and making sure it was downlinked back to Earth for the participants.

Fast forward six years, and we’re retiring Astro Pis Ed and Izzy and sending two upgraded Astro Pi units to space – in just over a week’s time, to be precise. This year, Italian ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will be taking the helm for the Challenge on board the ISS, while Tim continues to champion the Astro Pi Challenge down here on Earth.

Thank you Tim, for inspiring so many families to get involved with STEM and coding.

Your family’s very own space mission with Astro Pi

To get involved in the Astro Pi Challenge, you and your young people don’t even have to wait until the new 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computers arrive on the ISS. You can do Astro Pi Mission Zero — the beginners’ coding activity of the European Astro Pi Challenge — today!

In Mission Zero, young people, by themselves or in a team of up to four, follow our step-by-step instructions to write the code for a simple program, which we will send up to ISS to run on the new Astro Pi units. With their program, young people take a humidity reading on board the ISS and show it to the astronauts stationed there, together with a personal message or colourful design. This beginner-friendly coding activity takes about an hour and can be done on any computer in a web browser. It’s completely free too.

As a parent (or educator), you support young people on Mission Zero by:

• Registering as a Mission Zero mentor on astro-pi.org so we can send you a unique code for submitting your child’s program once it’s written
• Helping them follow the step-by-step instructions so you can learn about coding together
• Motivating them to keep going if their program doesn’t work right away, and helping to spot mistakes
• Celebrating with them when they’ve finished writing the code for their Mission Zero program

After a young person’s Mission Zero code has run and their message has been shown in the ISS, we’ll send you a special certificate for them so you can commemorate their space mission.

And this year, Astro Pi Mission Zero is extra special: we are asking all participants to help us name the upgraded 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computers that will go to live on board the ISS. We’ve created a list of renowned European scientists whose names participants can vote for, in case you need inspiration.

Parents have lots of enthusiasm for learning about science and technology

It’s not just young people that benefit from getting involved with the Astro Pi Challenge – it’s something the whole family will enjoy doing together. And as findings from our recent UK survey showed, parents are rediscovering their passion for science, technology, and coding through helping their kids with homework. The survey found that parents of children in primary and secondary school are far more likely than any other group of adults to enjoy learning about science, with 3 in 5 parents (62%) revealing their enthusiasm for the subject. Nearly as many parents (58%) wished they had greater knowledge of STEM from school, and 62% said they are interested in learning how to code.

“It’s wonderful to find out that parents of schoolchildren are discovering a passion for science and technology, especially after a year of home-schooling where they have been able to see first-hand what their children are learning.” says Olympia Brown, our Head of Youth Partnerships. “The Astro Pi Challenge is a fun, free, and creative way to learn about coding and carry out science experiments on board the International Space Station that both children and parents can get involved in.”

Young people love Astro Pi Mission Zero

If Tim Peake and we have not convinced you how fun and inspiring the Astro Pi Challenge will be for your family, then here are some young people to tell you about their 精国产品一区二区三区a片s. We asked learners at Linton-on-Ouse Primary School how they found taking part in this year’s Mission Zero.

This is what some of the young learners shared with us:

“I learned a bit about how to code. Everyone was very helpful. This was very fun, and I wish we can do this again. It was tricky when we tried to make the colours change.”

– A learner in Year 4

“I worked as a team by helping check all the time. Next time I want to do it on my own, because I am feeling confident.”

– A learner in Year 3

Head over to astro-pi.org to register as a Mission Zero mentor today and start coding with your children. There you’ll find all the details you need for your family space mission.

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We’re delighted to announce that our special judges — Eben Upton, Hayaatun Sillem, Limor Fried, Mitch Resnick, and Tim Peake — have chosen their favourite projects from the Coolest Projects online showcase! 

Young tech creators from 39 countries are part of the showcase, including from Ireland, Australia, Palestine, UK, USA, India, and Indonesia. In total, you’ll find an incredible 560 projects from 775 young creators in the showcase gallery.

Our judges have been amazed and inspired by all the young creators’ projects, and they want to highlight a few as their favourites!

Eben Upton’s favourites

Eben Upton is a founder of our organisation, one of the inventors of the 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computer, and CEO of 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi Trading. Watch Eben’s favourites.

Hayaatun Sillem’s favourites projects

Dr Hayaatun Sillem is the CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which brings together the UK’s leading engineers and technologists to promote engineering excellence for the benefit of society. Watch Hayaatun’s favourites.

• Radu Matei: Agartha Lore. Rebellion
• Momoka: AI Trash Can
• Kian: Cellular Ecosystem: Life in a Petri Dish

• Sama, Sam, Taima, Nouran, Rama: Five Feet Apart
• Tucker: Rivers.run
• Cyrus: School Student ePortal

Limor ‘Ladyada’ Fried’s favourites

Limor Fried is an MIT-trained engineer and the founder and owner of Adafruit Industries. Watch Limor’s favourites.

• Sara, Batool, Rahaf, Nancy: Children Body Language
• Lars: Colourbird PicoBello
• Alisa, Michelle: Green Coins
• Niamh: MineBlower

• Marah: My School Website
• Raluca: Protect the Planet!
• Rhea: The Amazing Photo Filter

Mitch Resnick’s favourites

Tim Peake’s favourites

Tim Peake is a British ESA astronaut who spent 186 days in space on the International Space Station. He’s also a passionate advocate for STEM education. Watch Tim’s favourites.

Discover over 500 projects

You can explore all the young tech creators’ projects — games, hardware builds, Scratch projects, mobile apps, and more — in our showcase gallery now.

This year’s Coolest Projects online showcase wouldn’t be possible without the support of our Coolest Projects sponsors — thank you!

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Meet the coolest judges!

Tim Peake is a British ESA astronaut and a passionate advocate for STEM education. Tim played a huge part in the first Astro Pi Challenge in 2015, and he has helped us spread the word about the work of the 中华信鸽信息网各地公棚 ever since.

“By taking part in Coolest Projects, young creators get to share their ideas with the world, and their peers. Whether it’s creating something for home, the planet, or for their school or community — it’s a great opportunity to share their hopes and dreams for the future!” — Tim Peake

Limor ‘Ladyada’ Fried is an MIT engineer and the founder and owner of Adafruit, a company that creates hardware and educational resources for anyone interested in digital making. Limor personally selects, tests, and approves all the tools, equipment, and electronics on offer by Adafruit.

“Coolest Projects is a fantastic opportunity for young people to take part in the world’s leading technology showcase and to celebrate all the hard work and ideas from the community — all from home!” – Limor Fried

Mitch Resnick is Professor of Learning 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 at the MIT Media Lab, and his Lifelong Kindergarten 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 group develops the Scratch programming software and online community! His life’s passion is developing new technologies and activities to engage young people in creative learning 精国产品一区二区三区a片s.

Hayaatun Sillem is the CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which brings together the UK’s leading engineers and technologists to promote engineering excellence for the benefit of society. She also has a PhD in cancer 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动!

Eben Upton is a founder of the 中华信鸽信息网各地公棚 and one of the inventors of the 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computer. As the CEO of 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi Trading Ltd, he oversees the company, including the development of all our hardware.

Register a project today!

If a young person you know is making anything with technology — and we mean anything, from robot to smartphone app to video game to Scratch animation to web page about their favourite food — then we invite them to take part in the Coolest Projects online showcase.

We welcome all works-in-progress and finished projects from anyone aged up to 18!

To find out more and register a project by the 28 June deadline, visit coolestproject.org.

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Engineering has always been important, but never more so than now, as we face global challenges and need more brilliant young minds to solve them. Tim Peake, ESA astronaut and one of our Members, knows this well, and is a big advocate of engineering, and of STEM more broadly.

That’s why during his time aboard the International Space Station for the Principia mission, Tim was involved in the deployment of two Astro Pis, special 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computers that have been living on the ISS ever since, making it possible for us to run our annual European Astro Pi Challenge.

Tim spoke about the European Astro Pi Challenge at today’s award ceremony

Thank you, Major Tim

Tim played a huge part in the first Astro Pi Challenge, and he has helped us spread the word about Astro Pi and the work of the 中华信鸽信息网各地公棚 ever since.

Earlier this year, Tim was awarded the 2019 Royal Academy of Engineering Rooke Award for his work promoting engineering to the public, following a nomination by 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi co-founder and Fellow of the Academy Pete Lomas. Pete says:

“As part of Tim Peake’s Principia mission, he personally spearheaded the largest education and outreach initiative ever undertaken by an ESA astronaut. Tim actively connects space exploration with the requirement for space engineering.

As a founder of 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi, I was thrilled that Tim acted as a personal ambassador for the Astro Pi programme. This gives young people across Europe the opportunity to develop their 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 skills by writing computer programs that run on the specially adapted 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computers onboard the ISS.” – Pete Lomas

Today, Tim received the Rooke Award in person, at a celebratory event held at the Science Museum in London.

Royal Academy of Engineering CEO Dr Hayaatun Sillem presents Tim with the 2019 Rooke Award for public engagement with engineering, in recognition of his nationwide promotion of engineering and space

Four hundred young people got to attend the event with him, including two winning Astro Pi teams. Congratulations to Tim, and congratulations to those Astro Pi winners who got to meet a real-life astronaut!

Astro Pi is going from strength to strength

Since Tim’s mission on the ISS, the Astro Pi Challenge has evolved, and in collaboration with ESA Education, we now offer it in the form of two missions for young people every year:

• Mission Zero, which allows young people to write a short Python programme to display a message to the astronauts aboard the ISS. This mission can be completed in an afternoon, all eligible entries are guaranteed to run in space, and you can submit entries until 20 March 2020. More about Astro Pi: Mission Zero
• Mission Space Lab, which challenges teams of young people to design and create code to run a scientific experiment aboard the ISS using the Astro Pis’ sensors. This mission is competitive and runs over eight months, and you need to send in your team’s experiment idea by 25 October 2019. More about Astro Pi: Mission Space Lab

If you’re thinking “I wish this sort of thing had been around when I was young…”

…then help the young people in your life participate! Mission Zero is really simple and requires no prior coding knowledge, neither from you, nor from the young people in your team. Or your team could take part in Mission Space Lab — you’ve still got 10 days to send us your team’s experiment idea! And then, who knows, maybe your team will get to meet Tim Peake one day… or even become astronauts themselves!

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Today, we’re announcing another Sense HAT emulator designed to run natively on your 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi desktop, instead of inside a browser. Developed by Dave Jones, it’s intended for people who own a 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi but not a Sense HAT. In the picture below, the sliders are used to change the values reported by the sensors while your code is running.

So, why do we need two versions?

• For offline use, possibly the most common way 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pis are used in the classroom.
• To accommodate the oldest 256 MB models of 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi which cannot run the web version.
• To allow you to integrate your Sense HAT program with any available Python modules, or other 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi features such as the Camera Module.

The emulator will come pre-installed in the next Raspbian release but, for now, you can just install it by typing the commands below into a terminal window:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python-sense-emu python3-sense-emu python-sense-emu-doc sense-emu-tools -y

You can then access it from the Desktop menu, under Programming.

The emulator closely simulates the Sense HAT hardware being attached to your Pi. You can read from the sensors or write to the LED matrix using multiple Python processes, for example.

Write your code in IDLE as before; there are also a number of examples that can be opened from the emulator’s built-in menu. If you then want to port your code to a physical Sense HAT, you just need to change

sense_emu

to

sense_hat

at the top of your program. Reverse this if you’re porting a physical Sense HAT program to the emulator, perhaps from one of our educational resources; this step isn’t required in the web version of the emulator.

There are a number of preferences that you can adjust to change the behaviour of the emulator, most notably sensor simulation, otherwise known as jitter. This costs some CPU time, and is disabled by default on the low-end 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pis, but it provides a realistic 精国产品一区二区三区a片 of how the hardware sensors would behave. You’ll see that the values being returned in your code drift according to the known error tolerances of the physical sensors used on the Sense HAT.

This emulator will allow more 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi users to participate in future Astro Pi competitions without having to buy a Sense HAT: ideal for the classroom where 15 Sense HATs may be beyond the budget.

So, where do you start? If you’re new to the Sense HAT, you can just copy and paste many of the code examples from our educational resources, like this one. You can also check out our e-book Sense HAT Essentials. For a complete list of all the functions you can use, have a look at the Sense HAT API reference here.

You can even install this emulator on other types of Linux desktop, such as Ubuntu! For more information on how to do this, please visit the emulator documentation pages here.

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Back in 2015 we ran a competition where students could design and program computer science experiments, to be run by Tim Peake on specially cased 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pis called Astro Pis. Here’s the original competition video, voiced by Tim himself:

https://vimeo.com/117274487

The competition ran from January to July 2015 and produced seven winning experiments, which were launched into space a few days before Tim started his mission. Between February and April 2016, these experiments were run on board the ISS under Tim Peake’s supervision. They’re mostly based around the sensors found on the Sense HAT, but a few also employ the 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi Camera Module. Head over to the Astro Pi website now to check out the results, released today!

You might also know that we ran an extension to this competition involving a couple of music-based challenges. These challenges have no scientific output to discuss, because they were part of a crew care package for Tim’s enjoyment, but you can get your hands on the winning code to turn the Astro Pis into MP3 players and Sonic Pi tunes.

One of the main things we’ve learnt from running Astro Pi is that the biggest motivational factor for young people is the very tangible goal of having their code run in space. This eclipses any physical prize we could offer. Many people see space as quite distant and abstract, but with Astro Pi you can actually get your hands on space-qualified hardware, create something that would work up in space, and become an active participant in the European space programme.

Many of the Astro Pi winners now express an interest in studying aerospace and computer science. They’ve gained exposure to the real-life process of scientific endeavour, and faced industrial software development challenges along the way. We hope that everyone who participated in Astro Pi has been positively influenced by the programme. The results also demonstrate that the payload works reliably in space. This has been noticed by ESA, who are now planning to use it during upcoming missions. It’s really important for us that the payload continues to be used to run your code in space, so we’re working hard with ESA to make sure that we can do Astro Pi all over again.

This project has been a huge collaborative effort from the start and the 中华信鸽信息网各地公棚 would like to thank everyone who has participated in the competitions, and the following companies who have contributed staff time, facilities, and funding to make it all happen: UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, BIOTESC, TLOGOS, Surrey Satellite Technology, Airbus Defence and Space, CGI Group, QinetiQ Space, UK Space Trade Association, ESERO UK, KTN Space, and Nesta. Of course, Tim Peake himself has been hugely supportive and enthusiastic about the project from the start.

British ESA Astronaut Tim Peake with the prototype Astro Pi. Image credit ESA.

We would also like to thank Libby Jackson, who is the Astronaut Flight Education Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency and a former flight director at ESA. She oversees all of the Principia educational activities, including Astro Pi.

Libby Jackson, UK Space Agency. Image credit German Zoeschinger.

During the interview for her job at the UK Space Agency a few years ago, she pitched an idea for running a project on the ISS involving 乞丐趴在雪白肉体耸动 Pi computers. Instead of launching traditional physical equipment, the experiments would be in the form of computer software, meaning that many more experiments could be accommodated. That kernel of an idea is what eventually became Astro Pi.

Izzy deployed on the Nadir Hatch window of Node 2. Image credit ESA.

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Watch Part 4 of the Story of Astro Pi!

Ed and Izzy will remain on the International Space Station until 2022, and they have exciting work ahead of them. Keep an eye on this blog and on our official magazine, The MagPi, for news!

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During his time in space, Tim has been using Ed and Izzy to run apps, carry out science experiments and play music designed and coded by UK school students, and he’s taken some great photos of them on the station:

Both computers have also spent some weeks in a flight recorder mode, saving sensor readings to a database every ten seconds, and we’ve made these space data available for everyone to download and analyse. Take a look at our Flight Data Analysis resource to explore what they recorded as they orbited our planet.

Ed and Izzy will say goodbye to Tim when he returns from space this Saturday; you’ll be able to watch him land. Our Astro Pi units will stay on board the ISS until 2022, and we hope we’ll soon be able to share exciting news about what they’ll be doing next. Stay tuned!

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We announced the winners in early April. Since then, we’ve been checking your code on flight-equivalent Astro Pi units and going through the official software delivery and deployment process with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Crew time is heavily regulated on the ISS. However, because no science or experimentation output is required for this, they allowed us to upload it as a crew care package for Tim! We’re very grateful to the UK Space Agency and ESA for letting us extend the Astro Pi project in this way to engage more kids.

The code was uploaded and Tim deployed it onto Ed on May 15. He then recorded this and sent it to us:

https://vimeo.com/167392781

In total, there were four winning MP3 players and four winning Sonic Pi tunes; the audio from the Sonic Pi entries was converted into MP3 format, so that it could be played by the MP3 players. The music heard is called Run to the Stars, composed with Sonic Pi by Iris and Joseph Mitchell, who won the 11 years and under age group.

Tim tested all four MP3 players, listened to all four Sonic Pi tunes, and then went on to load more tunes from his own Spacerocks collection onto the Astro Pi!

Tim said in an email:

As a side note, I’ve also loaded it with some of my Spacerocks music – it works just great. I was dubious about the tilt mechanism working well in microgravity, using the accelerometers to change tracks, but it works brilliantly. I tried inputting motion in other axes to test the stability and it was rock solid – it only worked with the correct motion. Well done to that group!!

“That group” was Lowena Hull from Portsmouth High School, whose MP3 player could change tracks by quickly twisting the Astro Pi to the left or right. Good coding, Lowena!

Thanks again to everyone who took part, to our special judges OMD and Ilan Eshkeri, and especially to Tim Peake, who did this during his time off on a Sunday afternoon last weekend.

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In November this year the UK Space Agency is holding two special conferences to celebrate the educational work linked to Tim Peake’s Principia mission. These events will be an opportunity for kids of all ages to show their projects to a panel of leading space experts – hopefully including Tim himself!

Tim’s schedule after he returns to Earth is hectically busy, but he’s very keen to be at the events and meet children, and everyone involved is working hard towards this goal. The conferences will be held at:

• University of Portsmouth on Wednesday 2 November 2016
• University of York on Saturday 5 November 2016

Attendance is free, and the UK Space Agency is offering travel bursaries to help with the cost of getting there. However, if you want to go, you’ll need to apply for one of the available places.

The Principia mission has a huge range of linked educational activities, one of which is our own Astro Pi, and the conferences will be attended by students selected from across them all. There are about 500 student places available for each event; the individuals and teams who submit the strongest applications presenting their projects will be invited to take part.

Astro Pi is one of many Principia activities

You certainly don’t need to have won one of the Principia competitions to be invited to participate: the organisers want to see all kinds of work linked with Tim’s mission. They want your application to tell the story behind what you did, describe what you’ve learned by carrying out the project, and explain what long-term effects the work has had on your school. We expect the conferences will include students presenting a huge variety of work, from activities linked to official competitions to creative ideas that students and teachers have generated themselves.

To illustrate the kind of applications we’re hoping to see, it’s worth mentioning the testimonial about Astro Pi that maths teacher Gillian Greig, from The Priory School in Hitchin, wrote last year. We think it’s a great example of the kind of story the organisers will enjoy seeing. Gillian, we hope you and your students will apply!

Of course, we’d love to see a strong Astro Pi contingent at both conferences, so we strongly encourage anyone who engaged with Astro Pi to apply. You can apply as an individual, a group, a class, or even an entire school. The applications will be judged by a panel who will select projects that show dedication and thoughtfulness.

Flight equivalent Astro Pi units will be available at the conferences

Dave Honess, who manages Astro Pi, will be at both conferences with a number of flight equivalent Astro Pi units that can be used by attendees for their presentations.

The deadline for applications is Thursday 15 September 2016 at 12 noon.

Apply here!

You can find more details about the application process, the conference venues, and arrangements for travel and accommodation on the Principia website. And if you have any questions, feel free to post them below – we’ll do our best to answer them.

Good luck!

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