The closing date is looming on a competition to win a scholarship to the United Space School (USS) in 2025.

The ManSat Scholarship, awarded by ‘River Advisers’ to Year 12 students In the Isle of Man, offers pupils the opportunity to represent the Isle of Man at the 2025 USS In Houston, Texas, from July 13 to July 28, alongside peers from more than 20 countries.

The USS is run by the Foundation for International Space Education (FISE), and the students are tasked with planning a crewed mission to Mars with support from NASA astronauts, engineers, and scientists.

The competition is open to the Island’s five high schools and King William’s College, with up to three scholarships being awarded for the 2025 competition.

To enter, Year 12 students need to submit written answers to the following questions: why are you interested in space; what excites you the most about the future of space exploration; and how do you think the Isle of Man can contribute to the future of space exploration.

The answer to each question should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length, and all three questions must be answered.

Answers should be submitted in a single PDF file by email to [email protected], and the file should be named using the following convention: firstname-secondname-school.pdf

Entries will be anonymised before judging takes place, and the deadline for entries is 11:59pm on Friday, January 10 2025. Late entries will not be accepted and the winners will be announced by Friday, January 17 2025.

The scholarships to attend the USS are awarded in cooperation with the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC), and to find out more about the Space School you can visit www.unitedspaceschool.org