The Space Explorers Program at the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration
Abstract
The center for planetary science and exploration (CPSX) offers a public education and outreach program referred to as the Space Explorers Program. The goal of CPSX is to strengthen and grow the Canadian Space Community by providing inspiration and training of the next generation of scientists and engineers. The space explorers program was inaugurated in 2016 to provide science and technology-themed programming on-campus and for the rest of the school calendar
Keywords: Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration (CPSX), space explorers program, Space Explorers Camp
The Space Explorers Program at the Centre for Planetary Science and Exploration
Since the launch of the program, the program has undergone steady growth with further developments and expansion of the program with a concentration on space exploration and planetary science. The program offered can be categorized into: I) public events and activities II) training, and III) school visits. This program targets children between the ages of 9 to 14. The participants get involved in hands-on activities and demonstrations expounding on astronomy, biology, geography, engineering, and geology.
The program started as a one week camp with fifty participants. Some of the included activities were building telescopes and mapping planetary landscapes. In the second year, the program expanded and saw the introduction of themed weeks. In this year (2017), there were 157 participants and included activities such as mapping of possible landing sites, designing missions among many others. The third year saw the expansion of the program to a second location in the Greater Toronto area in Richmond Hill. At both camps, the themes remained the same hosting 129 participants in the on-campus location, and 221 participants attended the Richmond Hill location. During this year, the Space Explorers Academy, a one-week summer camp involving various learning experiences such as robotics and impact cratering was introduced.
The authors created a vivid impression by the description they offered about the events that take place in the space explorer’s camp. The readers are able to picture the event taking place in the camps.