Thanks to an impulse from Katya Echazarreta, the first Mexican woman in space, 100 Mexican youths from 13 to 15 years of age are participating in a unique Space Camp, consisting of workshops where they learn a variety of disciplines related to aeronautics and space travel.
The event is being organized in and around Guadalajara by the Katya Echazarreta Foundation, under the direction of education specialist Manuel Maciel, who in an interview this week said that even after just one week of workshops and experiences, he believed the participants were actually capable of carrying out a simulated mission.
“We’re setting a precedent, showing we are capable of carrying out this kind of formation here in our own country,” Maciel told me.
The Space Camp project—the first of its kind in Latin America—was born from Echazarreta’s concern for children in Mexico. “One of her priorities is to give kids opportunities that she and many other Mexicans never had,” said Maciel. “Opportunities to get into areas of STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Tagged “Mars Mission 2023,” the space camp manages to combine the fun of a summer camp with the benefits of hands-on learning. The program runs for four weeks (July 10 to August 4) and every week 25 children participate. Housed in a Guadalajara hotel, each morning they are bussed off to various sites.
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