The franklin institute (TFI) proposes mission to mars: a nationwide outreach program that will catalyze dozens of national and community partnerships and galvanize ten communities across the country…

The Franklin Institute, doing business as the Franklin Institute Science Museum, was awarded a $999,807 cooperative agreement by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to implement the Mission to Mars nationwide outreach program. Under this award, the Franklin Institute will build capacity and catalyze relationships among informal science institutions, community-based organizations, and amateur astronomers to engage families and underrepresented youth in authentic space science experiences that support NASA's strategic goal of connecting the public to its moon-to-Mars exploration initiatives. Specifically, the Franklin Institute will provide professional development and resources to these partners to develop compelling astronomy and space exploration programming for communities across 10 sites, with a focus on underserved areas. Major project partners include the NASA Museum Alliance, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Association of Science and Technology Centers, and various astronomical societies. Performance will take place in Middle City West, Pennsylvania over a four-year period concluding in May 2025.

The franklin institute (TFI) proposes mission to mars: a nationwide outreach program that will catalyze dozens of national and community partnerships and galvanize ten communities across the country around NASA s space exploration agenda. Using evidence-based strategies to create ecosystems of engagement that surround communities with dynamic astronomy-based learning opportunities, TFI will effectively deliver on NASA s objective to connect the public with its moon-to-mars missions and learning resources. The mission to mars (M2M) program relies on a cascading series of professional development experiences that will equip informal science institutions (isis), community-based organizations (cbos), and amateur astronomers (AAS) with the skills and resources to develop and deploy high-quality astronomy engagement experiences for families and youth in grades 4-8, with an emphasis on those who are under-resourced or under-represented in stem fields. The project is designed to advance NASA s strategic objective 3.3 by creating NASA-unique stem learning opportunities for families and youth and providing support and resources to informal education institutions in order to reach and engage. To these ends, the PIS have identified the following objectives: 1. Build the capacity of isis, including museums, science centers, planetariums, and science festival hosts, to serve as community connectors, conveners, and science communicators around astronomy and space exploration 2. Build the capacity of cbos to serve their communities with compelling family learning experiences that promote stem engagement 3. Build the capacity of amateur astronomers to serve as ambassadors for NASA s missions and to communicate effectively about astronomy and space exploration to the general public 4. Catalyze relationships between isis, cbos, and amateur astronomers that drive engagement with astronomy and space exploration, are sustainable over time, and can be reactivated again and again 5. Engage under-resourced / under-represented youth in authentic stem experiences that promote diversity and inclusion in stem activities and careers project partners include the NASA museum alliance, NASA space science education consortium at NASA goddard space flight center, association of science and technology centers, NASA night sky network, science festival alliance, astronomical league, and astronomical society of the pacific.