IT and Education: YouTube launches Space Lab educational initiative

YouTube and Lenovo in cooperation with Space Adventures, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency have announced YouTube Space Lab, a global initiative that invites students aged 14-18 to design a science experiment that can be performed in space. The two winning experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and live streamed on YouTube, Space Adventures’ press release reads.

According to Google, Space Lab is an educational project of YouTube. A panel of famous scientists, astronauts and educators will judge the entries. Students in two age groups, 14-16 years old and 17-18 years old, either alone or in groups of up to three, may submit a YouTube video describing their experiment.

Two winners, one from each age group, will have their experiments performed 400 km above Earth and live streamed on YouTube. They will get to choose a unique space experience as a prize: either a trip to Tanegashima Island, Japan, to watch their experiment blast off in a rocket bound for the ISS, or if they are 18 years old, a unique astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training center for Russian cosmonauts.