Issue #2(24) 2020 Lounge

Opportunities for young people in the space sector

The Skype a Scientist programme enables students around the world to ‘meet’ and question a scientist. As well as being informative and entertaining it can be a great way to incorporate careers education into the classroom setting.
The Skype a Scientist programme enables students around the world to ‘meet’ and question a scientist. As well as being informative and entertaining it can be a great way to incorporate careers education into the classroom setting.
Jacob Smith UKSEDS, Cranfield University, England
Antonio Duduianu University of Bath, England
Laura Martin Liverpool John Moores University, England
Christina MacLeod University of Edinburgh, Scotland

With space becoming more and more important in our daily lives, we need to educate young people about space-related activities and careers and provide them with the skills needed to enter the sector. There are year-round events for students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities and, if they know where to look, young people can find opportunities targeted to each stage of their development, leading to an exciting and rewarding career in the space sector.

At the birth of the Space Age, the USSR and the United States were the only nations involved, with funding largely provided by the government and with a small number of jobs mainly for specialist engineers, scientists and pilots. Over time, other nations began to form their own space agencies. There are now over 70 around the world at varying stages of development, and the range of jobs in the space sector require education both within and beyond STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

The global space sector has seen, on average, a 6.7 per cent annual growth since 2005. With this trend set to continue, it is important that young people are informed and educated about the vast range of space sector activities and their importance to our daily lives, as well as our aspirations to explore the universe.

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The photographs in this article are kindly reproduced by permission of Max Alexander and are taken from his ‘Our Fragile Space’ exhibition - see page 60. Environment

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