Photo courtesy of HI-SEAS. 

Xploration Station­—an educational/informational channel dedicated to STEM programming for teens and families—is holding its third-annual #StudentAstronaut video contest!

One lucky student will be flown to Hawaii Island for a three-part mission to train like an astronaut bound for the Red Planet. Their aerospace adventure will be featured in a Season 4 episode of the Xploration Outer Space TV show with host Emily Calandrelli.

The training activities will include: a planetary rover mission with PISCES and the NASA Robotic Mining Competition Team Vulcan of University of Hawaii at Hilo; an overnight stay at the world-renowned HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration and Analog Simulation) habitat on Mauna Loa volcano; and a summit excursion to Maunakea—one of the best sites in the world for astronomy—for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

To enter, visit Xploration Station’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/xplorationstation/), like the page, and upload a video submission that meets the following criteria:

  • No more than 3 minutes in length.
  • Posted to the Xploration Station Facebook page with the hashtag #StudentAstronaut.

The video must answer the following questions:

  • Why do you think it is important to explore Mars?
  • How would this experience help launch your career in the space industry?
  • Why do you think we should select you as our next Student Astronaut?

To participate, students must meet the following requirements:

  • Be above the age of 18 on or before April 24th, 2017.
  • Be in good physical health. This includes, but is not limited to, the ability to walk in rough terrain.
  • Be a legal resident within the fifty United States.
  • Be enrolled at a learning institution.

The competition will close at 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, May 28, 2017. The winner will be announced on the Xploration Station Facebook page the following week.

For more information visit: www.xplorationstation.com/contest.