Space Lab - a joint project of YouTube and Lenovo

Surely many of you have already noticed that the YouTube logo has changed a bit since yesterday and is now equipped with a small helmet from a space suit. The fact is that video hosting launches a fairly large educational project and a special competition aimed at schoolchildren and freshmen around the world. Well, we, at Lenovo, as far as possible support it.



This competition is very different from the typical "participants will receive valuable prizes" (although those are also planned). To begin with the fact that the winners will have the opportunity to experience a feeling of weightlessness in a special laboratory aircraft. Or go through an astronaut training program in Star City, Russia. Well, or visit the launch of a space truck from the spaceport in Japan in 2012. And two scientific experiments in physics or biology, proposed by the participants of the competition, will be conducted directly at the International Space Station. Inside the rules of the competition, as well as a couple of photos of ThinkPad notebooks in space.







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First, the most important information. The YouTube Spacelab project is being hosted by YouTube video sharing with Lenovo. The official page of the project is here . Participants in the competition are invited to upload a video for up to two minutes on YouTube, which offers an experiment to be conducted at the International Space Station. The following should be displayed on the video:



Experiment Question - The scientific problem proposed by the competitor, the solution of which requires an experiment.

Hypothesis - An assumption based on the actual material regarding the result of an experiment.

Method - A simple explanation of the methods of conducting an experiment, during which a hypothesis is tested under microgravity conditions.

Results - The expected results of the experiment.



Each participant can submit up to three applications in two possible disciplines - biology or physics . There is also an age limit: applications will be accepted in two groups from participants aged 14–16 years and 17–18 years . Those who are older are not forbidden to help in setting up an experiment and preparing an application, but the main participants in this project are schoolchildren and students.



Applications are accepted on the contest page on YouTube until December 7, 2011. Then there will be a selection of applicants for victory, and this will be dealt with by Stephen Hawking himself, experts from NASA, as well as the European and Japanese space center. In March 2012, six finalists will be invited to the United States, and then two contest winners will be selected, one from each age group. Their proposed experiments will be conducted on the ISS and will be broadcast live on YouTube. In addition, the winners will have the opportunity to personally attend the launch of a space truck with elements for their own experiment. However, those who at that time turn 18 will also receive a chance to choose a training session in Star City.



Of course, the finalists and winners of the competition will be equipped with Lenovo laptops in sufficient quantity :) Lenovo's interest in space-related topics has a long history, and in a sense, was inherited from IBM as well as ThinkPad notebooks. One of the first mobile computers in this series went into space in the early 90s. And if you look at the photos of the interior of the International Space Station, it will be quite difficult to find pictures where the ThinkPad notebooks are missing in the frame. Here, for example, two photos from one of the last expeditions:







These are Lenovo ThinkPad W-series laptops, not the most modern ones (it’s generally quite difficult to send all the new products to the ISS), but one of the most reliable. When NASA selected a supplier of mobile computers, test samples were tested on Earth for at least a year, and at the same time subjected to the most serious loads. Reliability in general was one of the most important criteria.







You can also read about Lenovo laptops in space in a special section of the Lenovo website. And you can also watch this inspiring video . We will tell you about the development of the project and the results of the competition. And here I am also ready to answer your questions!