This week, Star Letters announced the launch of a new program: Reaching For The Stars: Star Letters Youth Program. The goal of our program is to help inspire children to look up and consider careers in the STEM fields to further advance humanity’s progress into space.
We firmly believe that children are our future and we need them to be excited about space to continue to make progress.
To help celebrate the launch of this new program, I’d like to direct your attention to a new documentary on Netflix focusing on the same goal as we are. It’s called The Mars Generation , and the film follows a group of 15 to 18-year-old “space nerds” as they participate in a summer camp at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. In between scenes of watching the kids participate in different training simulations about being an astronaut in the modern age, experts like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Elon Musk, and Bill Nye give the history of spaceflight and speculate about what the future of space exploration will be.
Honestly, I loved this documentary. It provided an excellent history of how the United States journeyed into spaceflight, a lot of which I had either forgotten or never even had the chance to learn about. It was fascinating to see who was instrumental in starting the American spaceflight program (hint: Nazis), why NASA stopped the space shuttle program, and how the projects NASA is currently wrapped up in began.
This history is juxtaposed with the youth we follow throughout their summer camp. These young kids bubble over with enthusiasm for expanding space travel. It’s inspiring to see these future leaders look at what they’re doing with determination, knowing that what they are doing will lead them into the future. The documentary showcases the community that they are building with each other so that they can be prepared to take on the future.
Their excitement is exactly what we hope to build up in other young people so that the numbers of kids interested in space travel increase even more.
So, the next time you’re looking for something to watch I highly recommend you check out The Mars Generation. And if you’re a parent or educator, watch it with the children in your life. Inspire them to reach for the stars. Without them, we won’t be going far.
P.S. If you’re an educator or someone who works with kids, please check out our Youth Program to see how you and your class can participate! We’d love to have you on board with us!
Written by Staff Writer Becca Brunner
Becca is a recent college graduate who lives in Tampa, Florida. From a young age, she has been fascinated by the stars and how beautiful the universe is. When she’s not writing for our blog, she can be found reading the latest YA novel, catching up on Dr. Who, or just hanging out with friends in coffee shops.
Photo credit: The Mars Generation Documentary – Netflix
