What is Mars Expedition?
Mars Expedition is an international competition organized by the Children's Press Agency. Target audience: students between 13 and 18 years old with genuine interest in natural sciences and engineering. The program launched in 2004 as "Expedition Universe," evolved through "Expedition Space" phases, and settled into its current name "Mars Expedition" in 2007. The people running this competition? Former participants who made it to the finals. They lived through every stage themselves and continuously improve the experience based on firsthand knowledge. The goal is simple: find curious students who want to understand how space missions actually work and possess deep interest in natural sciences. Participants must show motivation to push their own limits and drive to constantly improve. Mars Expedition functions as a launch platform that brings together gifted and talented youth from Czech Republic and Slovakia, opening new opportunities.
Competition Structure:
- ONLINE ROUNDS (12 April – 18 July 2018) Test your motivation and require project creation that challenges your knowledge and information-gathering skills.
- SEMIFINAL (20 – 23 September 2018 in Brno) The top 25 from project round advance. Expect a weekend packed with experiences and intense work. You'll learn extensively while multiple activities test your endurance, enthusiasm, and teamwork capability.
- EUROTRIP (Second half of October 2018) Multi-day journey visiting European Space Agency institutions.
- FINAL (Second half of October 2018) Takes place in Slovakia. Your team completes preparations for stratospheric balloon launch. Final stage includes mini simulation, interviews, and additional tests. At final conclusion, we select 5 best participants for the 100+ hour simulated Mars mission!
- BALLOON LAUNCH (First half of November 2018) Once everything is ready, we launch our own stratospheric balloon carrying data-collection experiments your team prepared during semifinal and final rounds. Mission crew processes this data during simulation.
- SIMULATION (Second half of November 2018) Runs over 100 hours and represents the longest student-run simulated space flight in Europe. During simulation, main crew aboard the spacecraft completes tasks, conducts experiments, and processes data. Naturally, they monitor onboard systems and handle unexpected problems. Midway through simulation: landing and Mars surface excursion occur.
Project round deadline approaches fast (18 July 2018). Don't wait. Register for the expedition HERE.
Why This Matters
This competition strips away theory and puts students into practical mission scenarios. You're not reading about space missions – you're executing one. The 100+ hour simulation forces real decisions under pressure. Equipment malfunctions happen. Communication breaks down. Team conflicts emerge. This is how you discover if you can actually handle space industry work.
Former participants run the show because they know what works. They've been through the pressure cooker. They understand which challenges build skills versus which ones just waste time. Every year the competition evolves based on what actually helps participants grow.
The stratospheric balloon launch connects theory to hardware. Your experiments fly. Your data comes back. You process real results during the simulation. This isn't classroom work – it's mission operations.