This summer, the 18-year-old was lucky enough to have something to take his mind off the build up to this week's A-level results when he won an essay competition to spend two weeks at NASA's International Space School in Houston, Texas.

The annual competition is run by ManSat, a Manx company working in the field of satellite communications, and Barry's two-week trip saw him join up with 34 other students from around the world and charged with the small matter of organising a mission to Mars.

'It was the best experience of my life, it was absolutely brilliant,' said Barry.

The students were put straight into action, with the first week a mix of lectures at university and visits to various places of interest.

The second week saw them get down to the nitty gritty of planning the mission, which took up the mornings, while in the afternoons they visited the Houston Space Centre.

The students were split into four teams, with each having responsibility for one area of the mission.
Barry explained: 'Each team had a different role, ours was looking at the logistics of the mission, such as the politics, funding, family support and counselling.

'We also had to choose the Mars landing site and we were the glue that held everything together.

'Each team had individual presentations to make, but our goals were all going towards the same target.'

Barry, of Peveril Street, Douglas, says choosing the actual landing site was difficult.

He said: 'The working group wanted to be near a volcano so they could work there, but those in charge of living wanted somewhere where there was water, either high levels in the atmosphere or under the surface itself.

'We finally chose a place called Alba Patera, near Olympus Mons, which is the biggest volcano on Mars.'
One of the highlights for Barry was visiting the old mission control room at NASA, from where the Apollo missions were controlled.

'It was ace. Just being in there was like nothing I've experienced before,' said Barry. 'They had mission patches and badges covering the walls from the Apollo craft, space shuttles and others they sent up until it closed in the mid 1990s.

'Other highlights include seeing Saturn 5. That was pretty amazing. It was the rocket used to take people to the moon. Apollo 18 to 20 never went up but they had already built the rockets for them.

'We also met lots of people ncluding John Young, who landed on the Moon in the early 1970s.'

During the trip, Barry stayed with ManSat president Chris Stott, a former Onchan resident, who is married to Nicole, a qualified US astronaut.

Barry has his sights set on going to Salford University and becoming an Army officer, but admits the Houston experience has altered his thinking slightly.

'I would now like to do something connected with space,' he explained. 'I still want to join the Army, but with the forces I can do something to do with space, such as satellites.

'The US on the whole was great and I want to move there because it is such a good place.

'It makes a change with the weather, waking up in the morning with the sun and not having to bother about the rain!

'As for next year's ManSat competition, I would definitely advise anyone to go for it and take a chance, that is exactly what I did. I was not expecting to win, but I did and it turned out to be the best experience of my life.'