JAXA Space Education Program for Informal Education: A Case Study of the “Aerospace School” Program

JAXA offers a program called “Aerospace School” to high school students as a form of informal education. Participants are divided into teams and work together to come up with a theme for their mission at various JAXA facilities. They also allocate roles and responsibilities among themselves. The goal is not only to provide Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) knowledge, but also to build their confidence. We hope this experience will help young adults think about their future career paths, and we strive to actively help them realize their potential. This paper presents the methods, specific examples of, and changes to the Aerospace School program that occurred between 2014 and 2017.