Space Exploration

BACKGROUND

The Boy Scouts of America teaches young people to be good citizens and trains them to become leaders. These qualities are also found in the U.S. astronaut program. Of the 214 pilots and scientists selected as astronauts since 1959, more than 125 were Scouts or have been active in Scouting: 33 Eagle Scouts, 21 Life Scouts, 12 Star Scouts, 19 First Class Scouts, 13 Second Class Scouts, 8 Tenderfoot Scouts, 16 Cub Scouts, and 5 with unknown ranks.

The Boy Scouts of America is proud of America's astronauts.

SPACE EXPLORATION MERIT BADGE

In 1965, the BSA launched its Space Exploration merit badge, and since that time, more than 100,000 badges have been earned. Requirements for earning this badge range from building, launching, and recovering a model rocket to designing an earth-orbiting space station.