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 Space education is not merely part of science education, but can serve a PR role for the importance of space development. In that sense, the curriculum should be well planned to achieve the above objectives, and educational materials should be prepared accordingly. It is natural that such a curriculum will vary according to the targeted students because expectations differ according to the targeted age group, ranging from elementary and secondary school students, through to high school and university students. For university students, continuous space education programs led by professors already exist in Japan (for example, the rocket experiment in Alaska led mainly by Tokai University, the cube-sat program led mainly by Tokyo University, and the rocket experiment by Hokkaido Institute of Technology, as well as the participation in a satellite contest in a California desert by multiple universities), hence I think we only need to support university activities without actively initiating them. Therefore, the space education we should actively promote is the following two major activities targeting higher elementary school students and high school students. The first is that we, the specialists who are actually engaged in space activities, should become directly involved in programs. The other activity is that we support schoolteachers. For the former, researchers who are at the frontline of space development would give lectures that not only share knowledge with the participants, but also impact their daily thought processes. Such lectures should be encouraged and continued by establishing a systematic and organizational information desk as a contact point to accept requests for lectures in addition to the conventional lecture requests through individual connections.
 Above photo
A poster for recruiting participants to the third "Space missions created by students" event targeting high school students through a hands-on experience program (between Aug. 16 and 20, 2004)
Left photo
Parents and children can learn space development through handcrafting and experiments at the "Cosmic College / Kids Course".
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