Source: Israel Hayom
Israeli school students will study space research in an educational program launched to coincide with Israeli Space Week this week. The new program, launched jointly by the Education Ministry and the Science, Technology and Space Ministry, will be studied by more than 150,000 students, and will cover astronomy, electro-optics, asteroid mining, the solar system and nanosatellites.
Space Week is held annually to commemorate the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Columbia disintegrated while re-entering the earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2003, killing the entire crew, including Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon.
Education Ministry officials said the new program was tailored for fifth- to ninth-graders and would expose students to "different developments in the field, with an emphasis placed on Israeli achievements in space research."
According to Science, Technology and Space Minister Yaakov Peri, the new curriculum is meant to "broaden the horizons of hundreds of thousands of students."
"We must invest in the young generation and connect it to the world of space. I have no doubt that many students will comprise Israel's future space scientists," Peri said.
Read more at Israel Hayom.