A week-long space school will give Ayrshire youngsters the opportunity to work alongside NASA astronauts and scientists.

Mission Discovery will see 200 secondary school pupils work in teams to design space experiments.

The winning idea will then be built and sent into space to be tested.

This year, astronaut Stephen Bowen - who has been on three spaceflights - will be involved in the Ayrshire programme for the first time.

The event is being sponsored by the Ayrshire College Foundation alongside local colleges, businesses and the Glasgow Prestwick Spaceport.

Heather Dunk, principal of Ayrshire College, said "We are thrilled that Mission Discovery will return to Ayrshire this summer.

"The programme is a tremendous experience for young people, giving them a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with an astronaut and NASA leaders on a live space project."

The Mission Discovery programme first came to Ayrshire in 2016. The first winners created an experiment that looked at the speed of slime mould on different materials in space.

Last year's winners presented their idea that observes the photosynthesis of phytoplankton in microgravity and the generation of electricity.

Both winning experiments were sent to the International Space Station shortly after the Mission Discovery week at the college.