Why does nobody talk about the quiet guilt after a space simulation win?
Just got back from a space agency workshop where our student team won the Mars habitat design challenge. It feels great, but I'm stuck on this one moment. During the final presentation, we used a cooling system idea from a kid who dropped out early. He gave permission, but it was his uncle's patent from years ago. We cited it, but it feels like we built our win on someone else's work. The judges loved it, and the kids are over the moon. I'm happy for them, but part of me wonders if we should have pushed for a totally original solution. Now I'm thinking about how often this happens in real space missions.