The Clever Country?

From the Sydney Morning Herald :

A group of Australian students have finished runner-up in a global NASA competition to build a model space station.
The students from Brisbane's St Lawrence's College, All Hallows and the Brisbane Girls and Boys Grammar Schools became the first Australian team to enter after discovering the competition on the internet.
The objective was to design a space station for 10,000 people with complete infrastructure to support its inhabitants.
...
The students final brief was to construct a space station on Mars for 25,000 people and to create and grow a habitable environment that would eventually accommodate one million people in 100 years' time.
The students, eligible to enter again next year, are now VIPs at the NASA facility.
Those involved were disappointed the Queensland government declined a grant for the project despite its Smart State agenda.
The students funded the trip to compete in the final themselves through sponsorships.

<sarcasm>Ah, good to see both the Federal and State Governments giving their usual encouragement and support.</sarcasm>. Congratulations to all those who contributed, and especially to the students themselves.