THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE OLYMPICS

摘要

2007 is the 15th year of the International Space Olympics, an annual competition for young people aged from 14 to 18 held in Korolev, Russia. The International Space Olympics competition attracts over two hundred and fifty youth in teams from countries including Russia, the USA, Germany, Greece, Europe, China, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom and Australia. Created by Alexander Martynov and colleagues at Energia Corp in 1992, the project was given full support from the city of Korolev and surrounding schools. The event quickly grew in size and attracted entries from around the globe. The International Space Olympics is an exciting opportunity for our youth to put their brains against the brightest, highly motivated young Scientists and Engineers of the future. At first hand the competitors experience what its like to apply to be a cosmonaut or astronaut. The International Space Olympics is an exciting opportunity for our youth to put their brains against the brightest, highly motivated young Scientists and Engineers of the future. They compete in events of mathematics, physics and computer science, space literature and a space related research project. Competition is notoriously tough in 2006 the Australian team entering the space Olympics for the first time won the coveted Cosmonauts Prize, with all of the ten member team finishing in the top 30 of 257 competitors. The competitors enjoyed an unforgettable experience, including meeting cosmonauts, visiting Energia Corporation Mission Control and the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (Star City). The purpose of the Annual International Space Olympics is to stimulate youth to develop their critical and creative thinking skills and to increase their knowledge of Space Exploration. The competition is judged by leading an international panel of twenty space scientists and cosmonauts. The winning team has their research projects published in science journals. In 2006 an International advisory committee was formed to standardize the examination question setting and marking. Success in the International Space Olympics has resulted in Australia running a national space Olympics to select its best space athletes for the 2008 ISO. The International Space Olympics is a proven vehicle of space outreach and education that can serve as an effective model for inspiring students and future generations to actively pursue space exploration. This paper looks at methods to extend the model to include both non and space faring nations with the objective to open awareness and opportunity to world youth and for the space community to fulfill its mandate.