Claires Court pupils take part in NASA mission

Young scientists from Claires Court Senior Girls School are preparing to see their work launched into space.

Members of the Eureka and Alchemists science clubs have been busy etching the names onto microchips, which will be sent by NASA to explore the Bennu asteroid.

The chips will travel on the OSIRIS–REx spacecraft in 2016, arriving at the 500-metre wide asteroid in 2018 for two years of study.

Samples will be taken of the surface, before some of the microchips return to earth in 2023, with others remaining in space.

Jennifer Mulhearn, science teacher at the school in College Avenue, said: "The club members are extremely excited that they are going to be part of a NASA mission, one that helps scientists learn more about how the solar system was formed and about asteroid formation and the risks they pose to us.

"This mission may live on beyond the club members!"