Gaziantep students win second place at NASA

GAZİANTEP

A team of private school students from the southeastern province of Gaziantep claimed second place worldwide in a NASA-organized space design competition held in Florida from July 29 to Aug. 3.

The group, named “From the Island to NASA,” consists of Gülce Erayman, Fatma Önkol, Ceylin Erayman and Benan Özcan. Following an invitation to the International Space Settlement Design Competition in November 2025, they joined a 12-person international squad to pitch a project titled “Manned Spacecraft Design for Venus.”

Despite beating out teams from 175 countries to reach the top four, the Turkish students had to participate in the U.S.-based finals online after unforeseen travel issues grounded their trip.

“Being second is a source of pride, but we missed first place by 2.5 points,” Önkol said, noting they spent a year working on the design. “Our inability to go created a disadvantage because eight people competed in a 12-person squad.”

Team captain Gülce Erayman said they kept in constant communication with their international teammates and project advisors in Florida to overcome the distance barrier.

“We transferred the sections we prepared in the project to our teammates, and they represented us in the final in Florida,” Erayman said, expressing pride in representing Türkiye.

The finals featured project defenses, networking and promotional events. The jury included the competition’s chief executive and NASA engineers.

“They asked questions about the projects and conducted checks,” Ceylin Erayman said.

The team already received an invitation for the program’s next edition. Önkol said they have a long road ahead and will continue working to join different competitions.

“Our door opens to all kinds of space,” Önkol said. “We plan to make projects about all space vehicles. Our goal is not to add something on top of the project we won second place with, but to create entirely new projects.”

The International Space Settlement Design Competition tasks high schoolers with designing space colonies, simulating the experience of working in an aerospace proposal team. NASA experts participate in judging to evaluate technical accuracy, offering students real-world engineering exposure. The contest aims to develop skills in management and teamwork.