For more than a half-century, Space Exploration has been an inspirational force in our society toward the development and application of science and engineering. The International SpaceCRAFT Exploration Challenge gives students an incredible opportunity to participate in space exploration themselves – virtually.
As part of a mission team, students will literally design spacecraft, navigate to another planet, land their vehicle, build a planetary habitat, and explore a new planet to find resources in order to sustain human life. Students will learn from subject matter experts including astronauts, scientists and engineers who are directly involved in ongoing missions as they compete with other teams for the best mission design.
Lessons on topics ranging from planetary science to spacecraft systems, orbital mechanics to robotic exploration, bring all aspects of space exploration to an understandable level for young students, who learn by doing and creating with these concepts themselves. The outcome of this program is to inspire young explorers to pursue STEM subjects in school and ultimately enable them to join the international community of scientists and engineers working on the space frontier.
