Boryeong has wrapped up its youth space medicine competition. This year's award-winning works will be sent to the lunar surface as part of South Korea's first moon time capsule project.
Boryeong announced on August 3 that the finals of the 3rd Humans In Space Youth (HIS Youth) competition were held on August 1 at the Yonsei University Graduate School of Economics.
HIS Youth is a youth space medicine competition co-hosted by Boryeong and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity under the slogan 'Children's Dreams in Space.' Since 2024, the event has attracted approximately 1,700 participants, including elementary, middle, and high school students and their teachers from across the country.
This year's competition focused on the theme 'Solving Humanity's Health Issues on the Moon.' Participants presented creative ideas related to health and life sciences in the form of art and research, based on the premise of human life on the moon. About 300 attendees were present at the event, including Boryeong CEO Kim Jeong-kyun, Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity Chairman Jeong Woo-sung, officials from the Korea Aerospace Administration, participating students, and parents.
During the finals, Dr. Party Karuia from NASA's Astrobiology Portfolio delivered a lecture, introducing participants to trends in space life science research.
This year's award-winning works will be sent to the moon's surface through the 'moon time capsule project,' part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, via the IM-3 mission by the private U.S. space company Intuitive Machines. The mission will also carry the lunar space environment monitor 'LUSEM,' developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. This marks the first instance of sending youth creations to the moon in South Korea.
Winners from the middle and high school categories will also have the opportunity to visit major U.S. space agencies and companies, including NASA and Intuitive Machines, in October.
Kim Jeong-kyun, CEO of Boryeong, stated, 'I hope the creative ideas of HIS Youth students will be realized on Boryeong's platform, leading the space era and space medicine. We will support students in their journey to one day reach the moon and meet their creations again, growing into the second and third astronauts of South Korea.'
Meanwhile, Boryeong continues to conduct the citizen participation campaign 'My Wish to the Moon' at major general hospitals and universities nationwide.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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