Idun on the Moon: Butian wins the 2023 GFSSM national final
From 9 to 13 August 2023, the Global Future Space Scholars Meet (GFSSM) took place in Beijing. Butian Engineering Club entered two teams, Tianquan and Tianxuan. Both reached the national final. Tianquan's company won the championship and Tianxuan's finished second.
The two Butian teams at the 2023 event.
A base inside a lunar lava tube
The final imagined the year 2055. Participants had to design Idun, a lunar base inside a lava tube in the Mare Imbrium region. The specified tube was roughly 3,000 m long and 30 m in diameter. Housing, mining, research, infrastructure and commercial viability all had to fit within the same proposal.
A layout from the actual 2023 proposal, separate from the concept visuals on this website.
Results and roles
| Team | Virtual company | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Tianquan, led by Yang Baoyi | Helio Energy | National champion; Best Structural Design |
| Tianxuan, led by Wu Jingyi | Nebula Tech | Runner-up; Best Habitat Design |
Zhou Baicheng served as president and Wang Hongyue as vice president of business at Helio Energy. Wu Jingyi served as vice president of engineering at Nebula Tech, where Huang Yijing received a Most Valuable Employee award. Zhu Maoqi advised the teams.
Work before the final
Students ran three practice projects and mock defenses at school. Older members shared experience and helped the teams revise their work. At the final, the two teams joined virtual companies with students from other cities. They attended specialist sessions in management, structure, habitat, operations and infrastructure, rehearsed their defense and then entered the 24-hour design challenge.
The preparation work was part of the result: research, discussion and repeated revisions.
The championship was one outcome of a longer process. The public account records students learning to work across schools, defend decisions under time pressure and keep revising their proposal through the night.
Adapted from the Hangzhou No.2 High School article on GFSSM 2023, supplied by the Butian Engineering Club. Photographs and proposal images come from the original article.