Kids in Space: Announcing TRU5T Ambassadors Kid Astronaut Corp
The TRU5T Ambassadors Kid Astronaut Program aims to send young students to space as the world’s first-ever Kid Astronauts. Their mission? A world and a future worth having.
“Today marks a momentous occasion as we unveil TRU5T — Terrestrial Resource Unified Space Training — the inaugural space mission training program designed for to train young students for space, creating the world’s first-ever kid astronauts.
This groundbreaking journey begins on Yuri’s Night, April 12, 2024, with the launch of our online application process, continuing until June 16, 2024. We invite young visionaries from across the globe to become part of the TRU5T Ambassadors Kid Astronaut Corps.
In a significant milestone, at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, from October 14–18, 2024, the announcement will take place of our first 32 TRU5T Ambassadors–students under 16 chosen from worldwide applicants to become candidate Kid Astronauts.
The journey culminates on Yuri’s Night, April 12, 2025, with the announcement of the TRU 5 Kid Astronaut Crew– the first official training crew of five trainees and three backups, selected by the TRU5T Ambassadors Selection Committee.
These pioneering young individuals will embark on a journey unlike any other. Upon completing their training and reaching 18, I, Mike Mongo, astronaut teacher, will accompany them to sub-orbit as the world’s first kid astronauts.
Presently, our plans are to contract with launch provider Blue Origin. Flight information has been supplied to me as an astronaut candidate, for convenience and for informational purposes only, and in no way constitutes an endorsement by Blue Origin, its employees, or affiliates. The TRU5T Ambassador Kid Astronaut program is launch provider agnostic. Our mission is to get to kid astronauts to space.
To that end, to begin our training process, in order to start as a TRU5T Ambassadors Kid Astronauts selectee, all applicants will be required to gain the permission and recommendation from their parents, guardians, mentors, and teachers, to apply and train. This prerequisite permission is open to negotiation and definition, depending on each applicant’s natural circumstances.
Our training headquarters are established at two iconic locations: SaxaVord Spaceport in the UK and Cape Canaveral in the US.
The selection process is led by astronaut and Afrofuturist adventure artist Dr. Sian Proctor and myself, overseeing a 7-member international governance board. The TRU5T Ambassadors Kid Astronauts Selection Committee, composed of 10 students, including at least three of whom who have participated my Astronaut Job Camp training within the past 5 years, and an AI member, will choose from 90 candidates, ensuring diversity and inclusivity in our selection.
The TRU Kid Astronaut Training is modeled after modern commercial astronaut training, emphasizing teamwork, commitment, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, enrollment, and vision-building.
Funding our mission draws inspiration from Steve Irwin’s philosophy of conservation and investment in a better future. Our focus is not on the source of funding but on the impact it creates — launching young ambassadors into space to experience the Overview Effect and bring back transformative perspectives for the betterment of our world.
I was flying across country and looking out the window. It just kind of came to me that people in the future would always have an overview of the Earth. They would see it where everything is related and connected. They would experience the overview effect.
Frank White
Our benefactors and allies, who share our commitment to Dr. Proctor’s AJEDI principles — Accessibility, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion — are the backbone of this endeavor. Together, we strive for a world and future where every child can dream big and make a significant impact. In the words of Mister Rogers, “Anyone who does anything to help a child in their life is a hero.”
“Most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, and picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child in this life is a hero to me.”
Mister Rogers
Our mission is to foster and empower a world and future worth having. Just as grownup astronauts before them have, Kid Astronauts getting to see for themselves how we all now live on the best spaceship imaginable will return to Earth with that change of perspective produced by the experience of the Overview Effect. It is our position that this perspective allows for solving all the challenges we face on Earth–health, energy, sustainability, climate, good food, clean water, safe shelter, and education for all, no less than the illusion of any sort of scarcity–through solutions and answers found only by solving for space.
As Dr Proctor states it, Solve for space, solve for Earth. And as global ambassadors, TRU5T Kid Astronauts will begin doing it under the humandatory principles of Accessibility, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
In this spirit, we believe in nurturing the potential Einsteins, Curies, Mandelas, Angelous, Cixins, and Ramanujans of the world — those undiscovered gems that even today maybe be hidden away and toiling in fields, factories, and shores, who, when discovered, supported, and nurtured, can grow to lead us towards a world and future worthy of our home world.
Indeed, the TRU5T Ambassador Kid Astronauts mission is about stewardship of Earth, not escaping it. By experiencing the Overview Effect, these young astronauts will return as stewards of our planet, ready to tackle the grand challenges of health, energy, sustainability, climate, education, and evolution.
This initiative is a step into a future where children play a pivotal role in space discovery, becoming genuine humannaires, the next generation of space-led leaders, innovators, creators, authors, architects, explorers, inventors, artists, and guardians of our beloved Earth.”
To embark on this journey and join the TRU5T mission, visit kidastronaut.com.
