Science ministry announces children's lunar art exhibition in Gwacheon

The science ministry said that the National Gwacheon Science Museum will exhibit 20 winning elementary-school works from the HIS Youth contest before they are sent to the lunar surface.

The exhibition will run from Aug. 11 to Sept. 6 on the second floor of the central hall of the museum's permanent exhibition building in Gwacheon. Visitors can view it free of charge, although the museum's admission fee applies.

This year's elementary division focused on medicines needed for lunar exploration and human health in space. Of 303 creative promotional posters and drawings submitted nationwide, 20 were selected for display. Visitors can see the children's views of future life in space and ideas for preserving life beyond Earth. The Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity and Boryung jointly host HIS Youth to help cultivate future space talent. Images of the winning works and videos of winners' remarks will be stored on physical media for transport to the lunar surface.

The material is to travel to the Reiner Gamma region on US private space company Intuitive Machines' IM-3 mission, carrying the first South Korean youth creations slated for delivery to the lunar surface.

"This exhibition goes beyond a simple art display; it is a place to share the historic process in which the dreams of Korea's future generation leave Earth and continue into space and the moon," Lee Choong-won, director of the National Gwacheon Science Museum, said. "I hope many visitors to the museum will find the coming space age more familiar through the children's sparkling ideas."