A few weeks ago, the Hypatia Mars association organized a drawing contest for children aged 6 to 12, inviting them to design a mascot for the Hypatia III mission. The goal was, on one hand, to create a microgravity indicator for the parabolic flights that the astronauts will carry out on May 8–9, and on the other, to join the astronauts on their Arctic mission next summer.
More than two hundred proposals were received, from which three finalists were selected: Narvil, Helia, and Estela. To choose the finalists, a jury composed of Hypatia crew members considered not only the design itself, but also its technical feasibility for 3D printing, ensuring the mascot could be brought to life.
Through online voting (with more than 900 votes cast!), the winning design was: Estela, created by 9 year-old Sofía Sebastián Loktieva. Estela is an explorer star who represents intelligence, courage, and the excitement of discovering new things. According to her creator, her light illuminates the path and shows us that with effort, curiosity, and dreams, anything is possible.
Just as the Rise mascot traveled with the Artemis II crew to the Moon, Estela will accompany the crew on their upcoming adventures.
The first of them will be the parabolic flights on May 8–9, organized by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), where the astronauts will fly aboard an aerobatic aircraft to study the effects of microgravity on the brain and cardiovascular system. Estela will be inside the cabin with the crew, serving as a microgravity indicator: when weightlessness is reached, the mascot will float.
As a prize, Sofía and her family will have the opportunity to attend the parabolic flights at Sabadell Aeroclub on May 9, where, in addition to seeing her mascot take flight, they will be able to meet and interact with the Hypatia crew.
The “Design a mascot for Hypatia III” contest is organized by Hypatia Mars in collaboration with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), the Aeroclub Barcelona-Sabadell, and Birkbeck, University of London.