Space education is based upon the belief that everyone should understand and appreciate the enormous impact that space is having and will have upon our lives. It is imperative to be aware of the potential benefits that will arise from space exploration and colonization. These elements will contribute to the improvement of our daily lives and our evolving society. Further, it will be absolutely necessary, especially for the young, to realize the continually changing nature of career opportunities related to space.

Space education tends to futuristic education that involves the knowledge of the exploration, terraformation and colonization of Mars. Space education is relevant general education excluding any specialized education or training efforts, save the building of model hardware such as Martian planet bases to enrich and solidify scientific principles and human psychology. Students should be exposed to most aspects of the current space programs with support from videos, CD’s and DVD’s, and field trips to space related institutions. In most of their general courses, they should study the impact that space activities have on the social, economic and political aspects of our society.

Confluent education considering the flow of the emotional aspects of learning with the intellectual functions greatly augments comprehension and assimilation. Learning reaches its highest level when a class is presented with the problems encountered in the design and launch of a rocket or the building of a realistic Martian space colony. This group activity releases the students and teacher out of the time and subject constraints of regular education. Furthermore, this type of activity acts as a platform for the augmentation of student creativity. Therefore, because space education is interlocked with so many areas of study, lesson plans, which emphasize astronautics and space technology activities in the curriculum at all age levels, are valid. Students relate to it because it is a practical application of the things they have learned or are learning abstractly in their general subjects. Mathematics and science become meaningful because there is an immediate reason to understand. Spontaneous interest in aircraft, rockets, space vehicles and life on other planets propel students into exploratory enterprises which will help them understand this complex age and help them to assume responsibility for the improvement of their everyday living. Space knowledge becomes comprehensible, not fearful. Moreover, space education serves to support the general courses of the curriculum by reinforcing the basic tenets of science and social studies.

Education and Public Outreach