Macleans College students visit Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute
Posted on October 14, 2025
Four Macleans College students recently had the opportunity to visit Te Pūnaha Ātea Space Institute at the University of Auckland.
Year 9 Rutherford House students Muhammad Moazzam, Nikhil Surapur, Tharul Wasala and Sahar Hasan were accompanied by retired Macleans College science teacher Mr Wong.
During their visit, the students were guided by Mahima Fisher, a Spacecraft Operations Engineer at the Space Institute and a Macleans College alumna (Rutherford House 2007 - 2011).
Mahima serves as a mission controller for a satellite currently orbiting Earth. She explained her role in developing and operating New Zealand’s first 3U CubeSat, which was launched in June this year on a SpaceX Transporter-14 mission from California. The satellite is performing as expected and successfully transmitting signals to the university’s Ardmore ground station.
Students were able to view images of Earth captured by the satellite and ask Mahima questions about upcoming missions.
The visit provided valuable insights into space science and engineering, closely linking with the students’ studies in physics, engineering and earth science at Macleans College.
