*This content was translated by AI.
The talent development program "Cosmic Pebbles" Season 5, a joint initiative between Hanwha Group and KAIST, has officially begun its journey.
“Cosmic Pebbles” is a program designed to identify and nurture outstanding students from the first and second grades of middle schools nationwide, thereby enhancing South Korea’s competitiveness in the space industry. Hanwha selected 30 participants for Season 5 through essay reviews and discussion-style interviews. By the end of the year, educational sessions will be conducted under the theme “Space Technology for South Korea” in collaboration with KAIST aerospace experts such as Joo Gong-hak-gwa (Prof.).
The first session is the “Space Humanities Conference.” This program allows students to engage with space industry professionals—including science communicators, space scientists, and researchers—by listening to their stories and participating in questions and discussions. Since cultivating humanities literacy and understanding the reasons for studying space are as important as acquiring scientific knowledge, the humanities component was placed at the beginning of the program.
The first speaker, science communicator “Gwedo,” met with students on the theme “Coexistence Technology in Space.” Through examining technologies required for long-term survival in space and challenges that must be addressed, students learned that space exploration is a process that creates new ways of life.
In the following lecture, space law expert Attorney Ahn Young-shin delivered a talk titled “Which Country’s Laws Apply in Space?” She explored various scenarios that could arise in borderless space from legal and institutional perspectives, introducing space development as a process where the international community collaborates to create new rules.
Students will broaden their perspectives on space through the second Space Humanities Conference scheduled for next month.
Students who complete the “Cosmic Pebbles” program will receive benefits including a “Certificate of Completion issued in the name of the KAIST President,” opportunities to enroll in the KAIST Academy for Gifted Youth, KAIST mentoring sessions, and overseas space institutional investor tours for all participants.
In a phone interview with this newspaper, a Hanwha Group representative stated, “It is highly significant that Hanwha Group, South Korea’s leading space company, takes responsibility for nurturing talent in the space industry through the ‘Cosmic Pebbles’ program.”
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*This content was translated by AI.
