On Monday and Tuesday of the last week of the school year, Columba Year 7 and Year 8 students formed engineering teams to compete in the Eggstronaut Challenge. For this contest, the teams attempted to construct landing craft that would allow Eggstronauts to land on the Martian surface (without suffering any life threatening injuries).

Adding to the challenge was the fact that the egg people could provide only meager resources for each of the teams. They were limited to some sheets of newspaper, some string, straws and a few popsicle sticks. The team was also able to use tape. However, with this being a precious resource in egg society, the successful teams who used the least amount of tape were declared the winners of the challenges.

The engineering teams took a range of different approaches to the challenge. Popular design components included parachutes, crumple zones and a fair number of origami boxes. Some designs did prove to be more successful than others and a number of Eggstronauts sadly perished. Regardless, the egg people are extremely thankful for the dedication and effort displayed by the Columba engineering teams. 

The triumphant Year 8 teams were:

1st place:

Engineering team: The PEA's

Team members: Page, Eve, Alice

Eggstronaut: Jimmy

Tape used: 0.56g

2nd place:

Engineering team: Shine Bright

Team members: Macy, Kate, Gemma, Madison

Eggstronaut: Bobless 3.0

(Bobless and Bobless 2 were sadly lost during training)

Tape used: 0.56g

3rd Place:

Engineering team: Jerry's Minions

Team members: Gracie, Samantha, Charlotte

Eggstronaut: Jerry

Tape used: 1.14g

The triumphant Year 7 teams were:

1st place:

Engineering team: Bob the Builders

Team members: Nini, Jessica, Emily

Eggstronaut: Gerald

Tape used: 0.02g

2nd place:

Engineering team: French Chics

Team members: Alice, Lara, Renée, Anabelle

Eggstronaut: Marionette (Ladybug)

Tape used: 0.08g

3rd Place:

Engineering team: Failures

Team members: Heidi, Sophie, Bridget, Amelia

Eggstronaut: Bob

Tape used: 0.1g

Honourable Mention:

Engineering team: BBBBubba

Team members: Sophie, Isabelle, Hilarie

Eggstronaut: Billy Bobby Bob Brown

Tape used: 0.34g

This was the top Year 7 team whose eggstronaut did not suffer any injuries.

The trajectory of egg society has forever been changed by the actions and effort of the Columba engineering teams. We wish the egg people well for their future on Mars.