Young Astronaut Day
Young Astronaut Day is a STEM outreach event for students grade 1st-12th. This event, which started in 1992, gives students the opportunity to work as a team to solve engineering challenges. These range from parachute drops and balloon cars to lego robots. Each year there is an event theme that the activities are centered on (i.e. Mars landing, living in space, etc.). Teams are tasked to complete three activities that create one mission within a 2 hour period. This requires them to build strong teamwork, communication, and critical thinking skills. Each team competes against the other teams for a friendly competition. The goal of the event is to inspire and educate students about NASA and the STEM field. This is not only accomplished through the STEM activities but by listening to an Astronaut keynote address and interacting with the scientists and engineers who are leading the activities and volunteering.
Photo Credit: Edmond Wong
Upcoming Event (UPDATED 2024)
The 30th Annual Young Astronaut Day :
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Location: Cleveland Public Library-Main Campus
From 11:00am-5:00pm
Registration EXTENDED!
Deadline October 29th 5:00 PM
Announcement: High School is BACK! They will be working with Critical Ops LLC learning about Drone League and how it works! They'll get a chance to try it out themselves and see how well they can fly drones through various obstacle courses! They'll end the day with a scrimmage competing against each other.
More than one student from one school can register in the high school group.
1st-8th grade students will be similar to previous years as they compete in STEM related activities!
Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter! @YoungAstroDay
How do I enter a team?
Registration Guide:
- Types of teams- (1st - 4th) Pilot teams and Mission Specialist (5th - 8th) teams.
- NEW for 2024: COMMANDERS ARE BACK! The event WILL be open to 9th-12th grade students. More details to come!
- Registration will be first come, first serve.
- To register, please visit:
- Once the team cap has been reached, interested teams will be put on a waitlist.
- Please e-mail youngastronautday@gmail.com if you'd like to be on the YAD distribution list and receive event announcements or have any questions!
Event Details
- Only one team of up to 6 students plus 2 adults per school/ organization per division. (i.e. a school can only have one team in each division)
- There will be three divisions in 2024: Pilots 1st-4th grade and Mission Specialists 5th-8th grade, Commanders 9th-12th grade.
- The event will run tentatively from 11:00-5:00pm. With check-in starting at 11:00 AM.
- Once your team is registered, a confirmation e-mail will be sent. This secures your spot at Young Astronaut Day.
- The registration fee per team will be $125 per team and will be due upon registration. High school students will pay individually ($20 per person).
Additional Items to note:
- US citizenship is not required
- Names of participants and drivers are not required.
- No Lottery for event registration this year. It will be first come first serve.
- There will be a flat fee per team regardless of how many participants.
- Lunch is provided!!
If you have any questions regarding the event or registration please contact youngastronautday@gmail.com
Photo Credit: Edmond Wong
STEM Resources
Follow and Interact with Previous YAD Astronaut Speakers!
Doug Wheelock: @Astro_Wheels
Sunita Williams: @Astro_Suni
Greg Johnson: @Astro-Box
Stephanie Wilson: @Astro_Stephanie
Mike Foreman: @foreman_Mike
NASA Astronauts: @NASA_Astronauts
STEM Resources
NASA STEM @ Home: https://www.nasa.gov/stem
Imagination Station Facebook Live Events every day at 2pm:
https://www.facebook.com/ImaginationStationToledo/
Stay at Home Science: https://www.imaginationstationtoledo.org/stay-at-home-science
GLSC Curiosity Corner: https://greatscience.com/curiosity-corner