Two schoolgirls from Atyrau made rocket science inventions

By Zulfiya Iskaliyeva

Gaukhar Students of the Technical High School, Gaukhar Zaidenova and Ayzhan Zholdaskali, became prize winners of the 9th International Scientific Competition in Space Research. One of them invented a new type of rocket fuel and the other made inventions in space medicine.

"Synthesis of depressant bonds and opportunities to improve physical and chemical properties of hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon products and their use for rocket fuel" is the title of Gaukhar Zaydenova, the 11th form student’s thesis. Simply said, the schoolgirl from Atyrau in actual fact invented a new type of rocket fuel! Russian scientists, who were among the jury members, have already showed interest to her work. The jury returned the thesis back to the participants wnen the competition was over, but they decided to keep Gaukhar's thesis for further study. Currently Gaukhar is intending to patent her work.

She started to show interest to chemistry when she was in the 8^th form when she started to repeatedly win the local and regional chemistry competitions. Her chemistry and biology teacher Gulshat Hayrdenova noticed her potential and decided that they will make effort and participate in international competitions. The topic was selected with a great caution, because other competitors were very strong, particularly those from Russia.

Ayazhan Zholdaskali"I wanted to choose a topic that nobody had ever tried to study, says Gaukhar. It took her a lot of labor to develop it. She conducted research in the Atyrau refinery and spent all her time in libraries, as well as searching materials in the Internet. She used to order books from abroad, which she could not find in Kazakhstan. Some of research papers required translation from English. It took her two years to develop the thesis - it was well worth it. Gaukhar took the second place in the section "Energy system and fuel chemistry." She received a certificate granting her exemption from the general university entrance exam - ENT tests, and a privilege to choose any university in Kazakhstan. She also received several invitations from technical universities of Russia.

Having talked to her parents (her farther is a Candidate of Sciences in Physics), Gaukhar decided to enter Kazakh British University in Almaty - KBTU. After that she will probably continue her studies in one of universities in the West.

Her teammate Ayazhan Zholdaskali, a 10th form student, under the supervision of her teacher Gulziya Beisimbekova took the third place in the section "Space Biology and Medicine." Cosmonauts, notwithstanding their good health, encounter health problems while in space: high blood pressure and high body temperature. Therefore, there is a special field – “space medicine”, and Ayazhan is looking for ways to apply it on the Earth. She too has the right to enter any university in the country without passing the compulsory ENT.

"Victory at such a prestigious competition is a high-profile event, not only in the life of our school, but our entire oblast," says Sofiya Alibaeva, principal of the Technical High School.

The two girls, together with all other contest participants, visited Baikonur space port, the Museum of Cosmonautics, the “Buran” orbital spaceship, the memorial house of the academician Sergey Korolyov and the house where Yuri Gagarin was preparing for his flight to space.

Photos by Kanat Eleuov