Space experience events will be held at 41 science museums and research institutes nationwide. It is expected to be a chance to tour research facilities that are usually hard to access and science museums that typically charge admission, free of charge.
The Korea AeroSpace Administration said on the 13th it will host "Aerospace Week" from the 23rd to the 29th of this month. Aerospace Week was prepared to mark the national anniversary "Aerospace Day." The government designated May 27 every year as Aerospace Day to coincide with the 2024 opening date of the Korea AeroSpace Administration.
To mark the second Aerospace Day this year, related institutions nationwide will run a variety of aerospace experience programs.
In the Seoul metropolitan area, Gwacheon National Science Museum will host aerospace experiment and hands-on making booths, a talk concert, and a stargazing program. Incheon Children's Science Museum and the Korea Science Museum Association will tour with space experience exhibits. At Gangseo Starlight Space Science Museum, there will be a rocket lecture, an aerospace film screening, and a nighttime public observation session.
The Aerospace Week proclamation ceremony will be held on the 23rd at the National Science Museum in Daejeon. After the ceremony, cultural experience programs such as an aerospace play, Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, and exhibits of CubeSats and unmanned aerial vehicles will take place. Korea National University of Transportation will offer launch vehicle theory classes and hands-on programs, and Konyang University plans a hands-on activity to make a magnetic-levitation solar system.
At the Center of Korea Observatory in Gangwon Province, a program will let visitors enjoy the night sky with their dogs. At Kangwon National University's Gangneung and Chuncheon campuses, there will be a 4D space shuttle making activity and a rocket launch experience event, respectively.
On the 27th, Aerospace Day, a commemorative ceremony will be held at the Korea AeroSpace Administration in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province. At the venue, about 15 hands-on booths will operate, including rocket making and experiences by Young Astronauts Korea (YAK), a space drone experience, making telescopes with recycled materials, and a lunar rover activity.
Sacheon City; the Sacheon Office of Education in South Gyeongsang; Sacheon City Library; and corporations such as Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) will also take part in science education programs including tours, aerospace book exhibits, and aerospace talk concerts.
Some facilities will also open free of charge during Aerospace Week. In the Seoul metropolitan area, visitors can tour the KVN Yonsei Radio Observatory and Gwacheon National Science Museum for free. In the Daejeon–Chungcheong region, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Sobaeksan Observatory, the National Science Museum, and the Daejeon Citizen's Observatory will be free. In the Gwangju–Jeolla region, Naro Space Center and Gwangju National Science Museum will open for free, and in the Busan–South Gyeongsang region, Busan National Science Museum, Gimhae Astronomical Observatory, and the KVN Ulsan Radio Observatory will open free of charge.
Oh Tae-seok, administrator of the Korea AeroSpace Administration, said, "We hope this Aerospace Week becomes an opportunity for the public to experience aerospace culture programs firsthand and to feel the excitement and importance of aerospace."