(BPT) – Did you know that students can send postcards to space and have the cards returned right back to their mailbox for only the cost of a stamp?
The program, started by nonprofit Club for the Future, gives students of all ages around the globe the chance to send and receive space mail. The Club was founded by space company Blue Origin, and was created to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM and help visualize the future of life in space. Unique to the Club is the access to space via Blue Origin’s fully reusable New Shepard rocket – which travels all the way to space past the Kármán Line with students’ postcards on board, then returns back to Earth.
For the first mission, Club for the Future flew thousands of postcards to space and back on the New Shepard rocket. The postcards, created by students from around the world, contained their drawings with their hopes and dreams for the future of life in space. Upon landing in West Texas, the cards were officially stamped ‘flown to space’ and taken to the post office where they were mailed back to each student.
The Club will fly postcards on future Blue Origin missions, so there is still time to submit your message for its flight to space! Here’s how.
- Grab a blank 4′ x 6′ postcard or thick piece of paper.
- Think about your vision for the future of life in space. How can we use space to benefit the Earth and help preserve the planet? Where could we travel to, or explore? Then draw or write your message on the blank side of the postcard.
- Fill out your home address and add a stamp on the back side (so Club for the Future can mail it back to you).
- Don’t forget to take a picture of your vision and share it with us using #SpaceMail on Twitter (@clubforfuture)
- Place the postcard in a stamped envelope addressed to Club for the Future – PO Box 5759 Kent, WA 98064
- Put the envelope in a mailbox – then it is on its way to space!
Your postcard will launch into space on a future New Shepard launch – then the Club will stamp it ‘flown in space’ and mail it back to you.
To keep updated join the Club mailing list and follow them on social media (@clubforfuture). The Club will post updates for when the next launch with your postcard will be, and you can watch LIVE as it goes to space!
Blue Origin is an aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos that is lowering the cost of access to space with its operationally reusable launch vehicles.
