A team of 12 students from "Tudor Vianu" National College of Computer Science won the Grand Prize at the International "National Sace Society" - NASA Space Settlement Contest. This is the first time in the last 6 years that a team from Romania has won the Grand Prize. Moreover, "Tudor Vianu" National College of Informatics is the second educational institution in the world to win this important competition for the second time, the first time being in 2015. The 12 students have entered the national campaign "100 Youngsters for Romania's Development", run by Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania.
Every year, NASA, ISDC and NSS organise the world's most prestigious aerospace development competition. Tens of thousands of students have designed a space habitat, and the winners are invited to represent their country and high school in front of an audience of leading scientists, astronauts, entrepreneurs and experts in the field.
Project Nova 2 was named the best of 5,200 entries from 29,000 students from 28 countries around the world. The Nova Station will be a permanent toroidal space colony located in orbit around Mars, supporting over 2000 tourists, scientists and permanent settlers. Our team has put a lot of thought into deciding every aspect of the space settlement.
The 12 winning students are Maria Neagoie, Medeea Marinescu, Luxin Matasaru, Mihai Priboi, Vlad Carasel, Tudor Nicorescu, Andrei Ciobanu, Hristoforos Koutsioukis, Eliza Radu, Vlad Dimulescu, Alex Paun and Luca Teodorescu, and the coordinating teacher is Ioana Stoica. The motto behind their work is "per aspera ad astra" - "through difficulties to the stars", expressing their continued commitment and determination to make new discoveries in space exploration. The next step in this journey is to present the project at the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles at the end of May, one of the most important aerospace conferences in the world - a tremendous opportunity for the team, the high school and the country.
In 2015 and again this year, the Grand Prize winning students were coordinated by teacher Ioana Stoica, who says NASA appreciates the intelligence and creativity of Vianu students because not everyone can do such projects and because the students are always very serious.
The students were enrolled in the "100 Youngsters for Romania's Development" campaign run by Dan Voiculescu Foundation for the Development of Romania. The "100 Youngsters for Romania's Development" campaign was launched in the spirit of celebrating national unity and identity and aims to bring to the forefront the stories and achievements of Romania's most outstanding children and young people who, through their passion, dedication and talent, have managed to make a name for themselves at national and international level.
The 100 outstanding young people who make us proud to be Romanian and who have distinguished themselves through outstanding performances will be included in the first catalogue of Romanian excellence, which will be launched at the end of this year.
