Monday, 23 January 2012 15:08

A Swords schoolboy is set to have his names literally in lights, when he won a European competition to have a satellite named after him. Adam Vaughan, a 10 year student at St Cronan’s Senior National School in Brackenstown, has just won the Irish leg of the European Galileo drawing contest, defeating 176 other entries from across the country. His satellite, named Adam Ireland, is due to be launched into space sometime between now and 2019. The competition was organised by the European Commission to coincide with the creation of the EU’s ‘Galileo’ satellite navigation system. Adam’s satellite is one of the 30 being put into orbit, as part of the Galileo Satellite Programme. Galileo is a European replacement for the existing GPS satellite positioning system and will see a network of satellites put into orbit for an expected 30 years. Children in all of the 27 EU countries were invited to enter the competition based on the theme, “Space and Aeronautics”. Adam’s entry, The Solar System , captured the Irish prize and he will now have a very personal interest in at least one of the satellites. Adam was absolutely thrilled with his achievement when he told the County Leader: “I’m really excited with all the attention. Hopefully when I’m old, I’ll look at the sky and be able to see my satellite. My friends are all delighted for me and my mam and dad are “over the moon” about it,” he said. School principal, Loreto Desmond was thrilled with Adam’s achievement, when she spoke to the County Leader: “The 4th class students were studying planets as part of their geography class. Teacher, Ms Somers was very impressed with the quality of the work produced that she decided to enter the class for the Astronomy Ireland Art competition. The winning child would have a satellite called after them and Ms Somers thought that this would tie in very well with what they were studying and there was jubilation when Adam won,” she said. “This is a great achievement for the school to win such a prestigious prize and special thanks is due to Ms Somers for her interest, dedication and foresight. It’s a great example of bringing interest and excitement to classroom learning,” she concluded.