Are Pre-Teen Astronauts the Future of Space Program?

Sept. 29, 2012 - PRLog -- HOUSTON, TX—Last weekend, along with top scientists, engineers, astronauts, and quantum physicists from around the world ‘astronaut teacher’ Mike Mongo was in attendance as a Presenting Author at 100 Year Starship—a three-day symposium presented by Defense Advanced Research Project (DARPA) focusing on the process of humankind’s construction and launch of an interstellar space program within the next 100 years.

Mr Mongo is the Florida-based education advocate and author of HUMANNAIRES! Mike Mongo’s Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens. His paper for 100YSS was titled, “Children: The Future of Space is Presently 8-12 Years Old.”

“What I explain to kids is what I explain to adults, astronautics is now a career path” says Mongo. “And it just so happens I wrote the manual for kids to become astronauts. This year when I submitted a paper to 100YSS, I was invited as a Presenting Author.”

“Whenever I speak with students,” says Mongo, “what I do is explain that astronaut is a career choice but that it will mean working and living off-planet. That’s what it means to be a “humannaire”. It’s our next-generation of astronauts—human beings who leave earth to go live and work in outer space.”

Mr Mongo explains he was honored to be a Presenting Author at the symposium and one of the primary representatives of kids and students among luminaries at the annual event.

“Dr Mae Jemison, who is the first African-American woman of color to go to space, oversees 100 Year Starship and she is extraordinarily dedicated to getting the message out to kids. The stand-out event was Star Trek actor and Reading Rainbow star LeVar Burton explaining to 250 Houston public school students the value of reading toward working in space. With all the NASA and DARPA people on premises, the take-away at [100YSS] was connecting with kids is now clearly integral to the success of the next step of the US space program.”

For more information,
contact Mike Mongo at 305-304-1555
or mm@humannaires.org
or @MikeMongo (Twitter)