From the ISS to the Moon... Boryung HIS Youth Award-Winning Art Heads to the Lunar Surface

Boryung Co., Ltd. announced on April 9 that it is launching a project to send selected artwork from the 'Humans In Space Youth (HIS Youth)' youth space and space medicine program to the Moon aboard a lunar probe.

This will mark the first time that an artistic creation from Korea reaches the surface of the Moon. Boryung has been supporting the HIS Youth program annually to help Korean youth become familiar with space and nurture their dreams for the space age.

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This project will be carried out in collaboration with the lunar exploration mission 'IM-3' by the U.S. space company Intuitive Machines. Boryung plans to load a digital storage device containing the winning artworks and video messages from the winners into a 'Lunar Time Capsule' and send it to the Moon in the second half of this year aboard Intuitive Machines' 'Nova-C' lander. The Lunar Time Capsule is a digital archive designed so that future astronauts visiting the Moon can open it, symbolically connecting current and future generations.

Now in its third year, HIS Youth is a youth space and space medicine competition jointly operated by Boryung and the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity. The program is tailored to help the next generation-Korean youth-grow into leaders of Korea's space industry, fostering creativity and imagination about space.

The elementary school division is conducted by submitting artworks on the theme of space and human health, while the middle and high school divisions take the form of research proposal competitions, where students present solutions to potential problems encountered in space.

Elementary school students who are selected as finalists will experience having their work sent into space, while middle and high school finalists are offered opportunities to visit space-related organizations and companies such as NASA and Axiom Space, as well as receive mentoring from local experts.

The artworks to be sent to the lunar surface on this mission are the winning pieces from the elementary school division in 2025 and 2026. Last year, a drawing contest was held with the theme "Medicine Needed for Space Exploration." This year, the theme is "Medicine Needed for Lunar Exploration," and submissions will be accepted through the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity website until May 11.

Meanwhile, the 2024 winning elementary school artwork was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) via Axiom Space's private crewed spaceflight mission 'Ax-4.' In July of last year, astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson held a live broadcast event at the ISS to introduce the children's works.

Kim Jungkyun, CEO of Boryung, said, "The HIS Youth program is an educational initiative that enables the next generation to imagine and participate in connecting space and life sciences. It will be a meaningful experience as children's imagination and messages are linked to future space exploration and recorded as part of Korea’s journey to the Moon."

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