A team of three Year 13 students: Shafay Khan (13W), Dev Goyani (13R), and Aden Honig (13W), have achieved a remarkable feat by winning the Special Gold Award in the highly competitive ‘Hong Kong Secondary Student Space Station Popular Science Payload and Science Experiment Design Challenge.’
The Education Bureau held an award presentation ceremony on September 21 at HKUST to commend outstanding student teams for their achievements.
Organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and supported by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the challenge tasked participants with designing a scientifically significant experiment viable for execution in space. The team’s project addressed a critical challenge in space exploration: the high cost and complexity of orbital refuelling. Their innovative solution investigated the use of capillary wicks, leveraging the principles of surface tension to enable efficient fluid transport in microgravity conditions. The research also revealed promising applications for advanced thermal control systems and water recycling, with direct relevance to future long-duration missions, such as those planned for Mars.
The team’s exceptional work, comprising a detailed research report and a functional prototype, stood out among submissions from over 170 teams nationwide and was reviewed by leading experts from China, earning them the highest distinction. As a result of their success, they are now collaborating with experts from mainland China and HKUST to refine their experiment for a potential launch opportunity, bringing their visionary project a step closer to reality.
