Cubes in Space is Coming to Canada!
FlightFest2025 - Suborbital Space Student and Educator Conference
Registration is now open!!
Apologies for prices being in USD but our ticket system only accepts USD sales.
On behalf of idoodlEDU Canada, the Cubes in SpaceTM program, and the Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM), we are excited to offer FlightFest2025 in Ottawa, Ontario this year! Come celebrate our 10th year of suborbital balloon flight NASA missions with us!
Aerospace Learning and Fun for Everyone!
All current and past Cubes in Space students and educators - along with their family members and friends - are eligible to participate in this exclusive FlightFest2025 Conference. (Our event is not open to the general public.)
When: 27-29 June 2025
Where: Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Ottawa
EVENT INFORMATION:
At this three-day, action-packed Cubes in Space conference, participants can engage in hands-on, minds-on activities, attend technical sessions and tour the museum’s STEM and space-themed exhibits! And of course the Cubes in Space students share their research and experiments with the conference and general public during the Student Exhibit Expo and can participate in Student Research presentations in the large theatre!
An exciting addition to FlightFest this year is special programming offered by CASM STEM Education staff! While Cubes in Space students and educators are engaged in technical sessions, CASM STEM Staff provide similar space-themed hands-on programming and tours for families and younger learners (Cubes in Space Cadets).
ABOUT OTTAWA:
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada, situated on the south bank of the Ottawa River in Ontario. It's a cosmopolitan city with a blend of urban and rural beauty, known for its cultural attractions, national and historical sites, and diverse population. Ottawa is also the political center of Canada, housing the Parliament of Canada, the Supreme Court, and various foreign embassies.
Ottawa is a large metropolitan region where most people get around by car. There are a number of car rental companies at the airports. There is no easy way to get from the hotels in downtown Ottawa to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.
(Depending on the number of out-of-town visitors, we can try to arrange a block of hotel rooms and transportation to/from the museum once daily.)
It will be a long holiday weekend as 01 July is Canada Day. So you may want to stay in town for the celebrations and activities! However, this also means hotels will fill up fast!
Airports:
FLIGHTFEST 2025 - CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
We have arranged two check-in sessions at the museum. The first will be at 4:00 - 5:00PM on Thursday 26 June
and the second will be at 9:00 - 9:45AM on Friday 27 June.
FlightFest programming officially begins Friday morning at 10:00AM at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. Check-in times are limited by staffing availability.
Any person in attendance must have a Student Participant, Educator Participant, or Guest Participant ticket and badge to enter the conference to ensure a safe and secure environment for our participants.
Please note, that sessions and events may be added as we get closer to the event.
Museum Information:
We are thrilled to be hosting FlightFest2025 (FF25) at the stunning Canada Aviation and Space Museum (CASM). The purchase of your FF25 tickets not only includes access and participation in the scheduled Cubes in Space events, but also a pass to the museum, to enjoy the exhibits and activities, along with an on-site parking pass.
Canada Aviation and Space Museum - Hangar Tours
please see https://ingenium.ca/aviation/en/activity/reserve-hangar/
Canada Aviation and Space Museum - Exhibits and Activities
please see https://ingenium.ca/aviation/en/whats-on/
LOCATION - CANADA AVIATION AND SPACE MUSEUM, OTTAWA
PLEASE NOTE
LOCATION - CANADA AVIATION AND SPACE MUSEUM, OTTAWA
PLEASE NOTE
LOCATION - CANADA AVIATION AND SPACE MUSEUM, OTTAWA
PLEASE NOTE
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Student Exhibit Expo
Students are proud of their Cubes in Space experiment achievements - and they should be! Very few students get to design and fly their own experiments on NASA suborbital missions! Now let's share these achievements with loads of people! For the Exhibit Expo, students will design and construct an exhibit space incorporating a tri-fold or exhibit board in addition to any models or materials to make their "booth" eye-catching and engaging. Students will share with their peers, aerospace and aviation industry scientists and engineering, the media, educators and other members of the general public about their experiment and what they learned during their Cubes in Space experience. Any person visiting the Museum will be able to attend the Exhibit Expo - that's exciting! !
Students will learn and apply public outreach and communication skills during this event. Having an "elevator speech" mentally prepared to clearly and concisely describe the experiment is strongly suggested. Students should be able to describe the purpose of their experiment and how it connects to an Earth or space-based problem or need, the nature of the hypothesis, and what the significance of possible outcomes to a variety of different audiences - from the general public to aviation and aerospace professionals!
Traveling from afar and can't transport your board or a plane? Let us know, and you can purchase one from us Friday morning or from a number of different stores in the area. The Expo is Friday afternoon, so you will not have much time to construct your board. We strongly urge you to plan out your boards in advance and bring printed-out components and any art work with you as there are limited opportunities or locations that offer printing on the island.
Specific information about creating engaging exhibits will be sent to participants later in May.
Student Research Presentations
On Sunday morning, students will deliver 5-7 minute presentations about their research and experiments flying on the sounding rocket or research balloon missions to a large audience in the Theatre of the Museum.
Specific information about creating engaging presentations will be sent to participants later in May.
Cosmic Celebrations!
Time: 6:00 - 8:30 PM Sunday Evening
Before we say goodbye, let’s all celebrate another successful FlightFest and Cubes in Space year - It is our 11th after all! Bring lawn chairs, picnic blankets, outdoor games, musical instruments, etc and a willingness to have fun! We will be launching model rockets built during the conference, playing lawn games, and hopefully enjoying a lovely June evening. If it rains, we do have the Theatre - whew!
TICKET PRICES AND REGISTRATION DEADLINES
All prices are in Canadian Dollars (CAD) - There are limited tickets available
| Type of Registration | Dates | Registration Costs |
|---|---|---|
| Early Bird | Ends 14 May 2025 | Student $225 Educator or Guest $150 |
| Regular | 15 May - 14 June 2025 | Student $250 Educator or Guest $175 |
| Last Minute | Until 27 June 2025 or sells out | Student $275 Educator or Guest $200 you may not receive personalized conference materials such as printed badges |
NOTE: GUEST is a parent, sibling, friend, family member or any additional person other than the Cubes in Space Student.
SPECIAL EVENTS - purchase separate tickets
| Eligibility: | Any FlightFest participant - students, educators or guests. Children younger than 14 MUST be accompanied by adult 18 years or older |
|---|---|
| Tickets Available: | 30 (ticket is for a team of 2) |
| Time: | 29 June 2025 - 2:00 - 4:30 PM |
| Cost: | $60 Team of (2) includes all materials (excluding launch system) for one rocket. Maximum of 30 teams (number of rockets we can launch) |
Have you wanted to build and launch a model rocket but were intimidated by the process? Well guess what? We have a workshop session for that! Come join us on Sunday, 29 June 2025 in the Theatre for an action-packed, totally hands-on workshop led two amazing individuals, the former Director of NASA's Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate and a NASA JPL Solar System and Cubes in Space Ambassador. Participants will be guided through the model rocket-building and launch process. Learn the basics of engineering principles, build the rocket and integrate the motor, design the outside of your payload bay, and test your vehicle's performance on Sunday evening during our evening party!
A total of 30 model rocket kits will be distributed in the workshop. Up to two people can work on a rocket. For example, a parent and student, or two friends, or siblings can attend the workshop and build a model rocket unit together.
| Eligibility: | Only available to current or former Cubes in Space students or educators - students 13 and under must be accompanied by an adult with a conference ticket. |
|---|---|
| Spaces Available: | We have a total of 12 ION+ Next Gen flight hardware units available to fly on the RB-10 mission from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility - Ft. Sumner, New Mexico location in August 2025. |
| Time: | 1:00 PM - 3:45 PM Saturday, 28 June |
| Cost: | $299 includes ION+ instruction guide, and flight hardware units. ** participants will need access to a mobile phone for loading of an specially designed ION+ application** |
Students practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills while learning and applying engineering principles.
Throughout this new Individual Onboard Nanocomputer (ION+) Next Gen workshop, engineering will be demystified when students learn to prepare and test the flight hardware and learn simple software techniques to collect environmental data on the upcoming CiS RB-10 mission. Students do not need to have prior knowledge of electronics and coding to participate. However, this workshop is more suitable for advanced-level students.
Students will gain technology development knowledge and skills using new content developed by Frank Peri (Director of Engineering, Astrobotic. NASA, Retired) and Amber Agee-DeHart (Founder and Director, Cubes in Space) and the ION+ Next Gen Kits. These Cubes in Space flight-certified ION+ kits contain all of the materials and components necessary to acquire technology development knowledge and skills by students leading to flying microcomputer hardware to collect atmospheric and environmental data on the CiS RB-10 mission.The kits can be used in any learning environment allowing one to understand how to troubleshoot to solve a problem, answer questions and gather data by developing an engineered solution.
The content includes basic principles of science and engineering. Engineering principles include how to take measurements, to perform simple data analyses, to understand coding algorithms and techniques, to use prototypes to test concepts, how to develop test procedures, and to turn prototypes into flight certified systems. Students will learn how to identify potential problems before they arise, and how to mitigate those problems. Students will apply these principles using hands-on projects involving electronic assemblies that can be reconfigured and reused.
ION+ hardware units that pass inspection during the Flight Readiness Review on 29 June 2025 will be flown as part of the CiS Research Balloon-10 (RB-10) payload aboard NASA's Balloon Program Office - Test Flight Mission in August 2025.
CASM FAMILY ACTIVITIES - free!
Kids of all ages learn about how to design rockets and control their flight using their brains and different propulsion systems - air, water, and gas. While having fun, participants learn about rocket design concepts of fin shape, momentum, drag, g-forces, inertia, propulsion, launch angle and the center of mass - and how all these factors come together to make a rocket. Simple materials - hands-on - Stomp rockets, water rockets, soda bottle rockets and more!
For our younger space cadets, come to the theatre and create your own interactive rocket adventure. YOU are the astronaut and get to build your own spacecraft out of boxes and other craft materials.
now take your spacecraft and Zoom to the Moon! In this interactive storytelling activity, young cadets design and share their mission with participants and Museum staff. Where ingenuity, creativity and space come together for awesome family fun!
Ever wondered how robotic rovers will work on the Moon or Mars? Build simple rovers and learn simple programming to complete tasks on a simulated lunar surface.
Learn how to control and fly small drones to complete tasks and compete against other pilots in the large Drone Zone in the museum. Limited space availability per session - sign-up necessary.
Join regularly scheduled tours to be guided through exciting and dynamic space and aviation exhibits.
Thank You!
This year we would like to thank all the educators and families that continue to support their students through participation in the Cubes in Space program! We would also like to thank the Canada Aviation and Space Museum for continuing our partnership in an effort to develop and deliver high-quality space, aviation and STEM-related programs and events for the youth and educators in Ontario. And we are always so grateful to Albion Printing for their sponsorship and printing of all our FlightFest materials. And of course, we thank NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and their Balloon Program Office for providing our tenth high altitude balloon student research, suborbital science mission!
