[Text on screen: Young Space Explorers 2025, IAC Sydney, STEM Enrichment]

Scott Sleap

[Text on screen: Scott Sleap, STEM Enrichment Coordinator]

Young Space Explorers has been a real collaborative effort. Our industry partners, including the CSIRO, organisations like Fizzics Education, the University of Sydney, a whole group of different organisations to produce a set of hands-on STEM activities to engage young people in STEM.

Students have been involved with science shows, working with virtual reality goggles, building planes, building all sorts of different contraptions to go into space.

We've also had students with our Mars Rover scramble working in teams to try to solve problems.

One of the big highlights today has been the students who've been involved in our mission patch competition and our Australian Virtual Astronaut program.

[Text on screen: Olivia Cutri, Mission Patch Competition Winner – Samuel Gilbert Public School

Eric Philips, Astronaut]

Eric Phillips

[On screen: Eric talking to Olivia]

Well, congratulations. This is an incredible design and very well deserved.

Scott Sleap

The winners of the competitions have been able to work with astronauts that have been here today, throughout the day. We've had astronauts coming through, working with our teachers, working with our students.

So what a fantastic opportunity to engage young people and engage our public school students thanks to the work of the New South Wales Department of Education and Young Space Explorers.

[End of Transcript]