Mission2Mars

The Mission2Mars program aims to create community-based ecosystems of engagement around NASA’s Artemis lunar exploration program, in order to help NASA achieve its strategic objective to “inspire, engage, educate, and employ the next generation of explorers through NASA-unique STEM learning opportunities," specifically reaching marginalized populations in STEM fields including people of color, low socioeconomic status populations, and low-resourced rural and urban communities.

Since 2022, The Franklin Institute has convened and led a national network of ten informal science institutions (ISIs) in recruiting and training community-based organizations (CBOs) and amateur astronomers (AAs) to deliver Mission2Mars programming to families and youth in grades 4-8.

Mission2Mars Program Goals

  • For children and caregivers to deepen their engagement with and awareness of NASA’s educational resources, specifically content related to the Artemis program, as well as to connect space exploration to what they see in the sky.
  • For amateur astronomers to build knowledge, skills, and confidence in the implementation of engaging astronomy programs, specifically Artemis program content; and build collaborative relationships with informal science institutions and community-based organizations to effectively disseminate programming.
  • For community-based organizations to build knowledge, skills, and confidence in science communication; increase capacity for hosting engaging science events for children and families; build effective collaborative relationships with museums and amateur astronomers.
  • For informal science institutions to become effective hubs of expertise for activating their communities around NASA’s Artemis program and to build their capacity for training and engaging marginalized communities in NASA content.

Program Resources

Visit the Program Resources page for activities, program resources, and evaluation reports. 

Meet our Team

Meet the Mission2Mars team at The Franklin Institute!

 

Little girl at table

An attendee participating in the Impact Crater activity in Philadelphia.

Acknowledgements

Mission2Mars is made possible by NASA under grant number 80NSSC21M0083. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of NASA.