The Hypatia III mission now has a mascot, chosen through a community competition

During the months of March and April, the Hypatia Mars association organised the “Design a Mascot for Hypatia III” competition. This initiative, aimed at children aged 6 to 12, invited them to create the mascot that will accompany the Hypatia crew on their upcoming missions. The most notable of these will be the Arctic mission, scheduled to take place during the summer of 2027. 

The competition, which features the collaboration of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), the Barcelona-Sabadell Aeroclub, and Birkbeck, University of London, received over two hundred entries, resulting in three finalists: Narvil, Helia, and Estela. To select the finalists, a jury made up of Hypatia crew members considered not only the design but also the technical feasibility of 3D printing the mascot to make it a reality.

Following a web-based vote with over 900 participants, the public selected a winner from the finalists. The chosen design was Estela, created by 9-year-old Sofía Sebastián Loktieva. Estela is an explorer star who represents intelligence, bravery, and the excitement of discovering new things. According to her creator, she lights the way with her glow and proves that through effort, curiosity, and dreams, anything is possible.

Just as the mascot Rise travelled to the Moon with the ARTEMIS II crew, Estela will accompany the Hypatia crew on their upcoming missions. The most immediate of these will be the parabolic flight campaign on 8 and 9 May, organised by the UPC, where the analogue astronauts will take off in an aerobatic aircraft. Estela will be inside the cockpit with the crew to serve as a zero-gravity indicator: when zero-G is reached, the mascot will float.

This campaign will serve to validate two international research projects. One of them is led by UPC researcher and IEEC member Antoni Pérez-Poch, which uses numerical simulations to study the effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system. The other, led by researcher Elisa Ferrè, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Birkbeck, University of London, will study sensory perception and the effects on the brain under weightless conditions, comparing these results with the data gathered under isolation during the upcoming Hypatia III Arctic mission. Additionally, nutritionist Abril Gorgori, a scientific collaborator at the UPC, will also participate in the flights.

As a prize, Sofía and her family will have the opportunity to witness the parabolic flights at the Barcelona-Sabadell Aeroclub on 9 May where, in addition to seeing their mascot take to the skies, they will be able to interact with the Hypatia crew.