UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES IN THE HUNGARIAN SPACE CAMP - LESSONS FROM 18 YEARS OF ORGANIZATION

摘要

The Hungarian Astronautical Society (abbreviated as MANT in Hungarian) is a civil organization established in 1956. In 1994 our society started the series of the Hungarian Space Camps. The founder's intent was to introduce the space research, and astronautics to the youth during a one-week-long summer camp. The participants are students between 13 and 18 who are interested in space and science. In the camp known Hungarian space researchers and scientists give lectures. The topics cover a broad range, from the basics of the space physics through the design and development of the space dosimeter Pille to the zero-G effects on the human body. In our paper we briefly review the history of the space camp and how we could operate it on a non-profit basis. We introduce the organization structure, our main activities, and the selection process for students and lecturers. We highlight different challenges we met during organization and how we were able to increase the number of participants. We outline the camp's impact made on Hungarian space research during the 18 years of its existence. We believe these ideas could be beneficial for similar outreach activities as well.