In celebration of the Apollo-11 Moon landing’s 50th anniversary, the LEGO group launched month-long events to inspire curiosity among the next-generation about space. The company partnered with Scholastic on an educational program that will send 50 children to NASA Space Camp in 2020. The program will also tap teachers in selected school districts across the United States.

  • Youtuber/Vlogger is the most popular career choice of children in the UK and USA.
  • 86% of the young respondents claim to be interested in space exploration.
  • School teachers and internet are top drivers of space curiosity among children.
  • 95% of Chinese kids interested in living in outer space or on another planet.

Also Read: NASA Studies: Space Tourism is No Longer For the Future

As part of the initiative, LEGO, the internationally-acclaimed toy manufacturer, sponsored a global survey conducted among children aged between 8 to 12 about space exploration. Harris Poll carried the LEGO survey and fielded in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the result unveils that the most popular answer among western children to the cliche question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”— is to be a Vlogger or YouTuber!

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Children in the USA and UK are roughly three times more likely to aspire to be YouTubers with 29% and 30% respectively. In comparison to only 11% of children in the west wanting to be an astronaut.

Meanwhile, 56% of Chinese children dream to be Astronauts on the eastern side of the world. Chinese children show interest in space subjects 45% more than their western counterparts.

According to Harris Poll, 86% of the young respondents claim to be interested in space exploration, and 90% of them want to learn more. While 83% of their parents who also participated in the survey believed their children are interested in space, only 53% of kids say their interest in space is fueled by their parents—79% citing teachers and 71% saying the internet remains the source of knowledge and inspiration.

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Space as a career is something very ambitious. Limited people are given the opportunity to pursue occupations related to space studies, moreover to go outer space and explore it themselves. However, with progressing exploration in space, many children believe humans will reside in outer space or another planet in the future.

A high percentage of children in China believe that humans would eventually live on other planets or in outer space. As per the result, 95% of Chinese children look forward to this space move, wanting to live outside Earth themselves. In comparison though, space ambition is seen as low among western children with less than 70%.

When the children identified roles in space exploration, the astronaut (90%) appeared as the popular answer. Engineer followed with 58% and Computer Programmer at 52%. Meanwhile, only 7%t of children see a role for a Farmer or Gardener in the space program, an indication that children are not very aware of the list of occupations supporting space travel.