Hawaiʻi Space Voyagers

Aerospace & Future Exploration – Learn to Explore.

Description

Learners apply everything developed across engineering, mobility, electronics, robotics, and programming to aerospace and space exploration — and connect modern exploration to the legacy of Hawaiian wayfinding, which solved problems of navigation, provisioning, and risk over open ocean that are structurally the same problems mission planners solve today.

Learning Areas

  • Rocketry
  • Satellites
  • Orbital Mechanics
  • Astronomy
  • Hawaiian Navigation
  • Planetary Science
  • Space Robotics
  • Mission Planning
  • Remote Exploration
  • Future Technologies
Founded by Kumu Jack Kanai Hobbs IV.

Hawaiian Navigation as Aerospace Curriculum

Wayfinding is taught here as a rigorous technical discipline, not as background color. Star compass work, swell reading, dead reckoning, and provisioning calculations are treated as navigation and systems engineering — because that is what they are. This material is developed and delivered in partnership with navigation practitioners, under KMKK cultural review, and never presented as something a program can teach in isolation from the community that carries it.

Track Record

The programme runs Mars rover work, which doubles as the practical home of RC All Terrain Academy’s terrain and recovery content.

Representative Projects

  • Model rocketry with altitude prediction, telemetry recovery, and post-flight analysis
  • High-altitude balloon payload design, tracking, and recovery
  • CubeSat-class subsystem design exercises — power, comms, thermal, attitude
  • Star compass construction and observational navigation practice
  • Mission planning under mass, power, and risk constraints
  • Rover challenges connecting robotics work to planetary surface operations

Careers

Learners explore careers that push engineering beyond Earth — aerospace and systems engineering, mission operations, satellite communications, remote sensing, planetary science, and the growing commercial space sector — while understanding that Hawaiʻi already holds a significant position in astronomy, tracking, and ocean-based systems.

Description: An aerospace education program that explores space science and technology. Students engage in projects related to rocketry, satellite design, and space exploration, fostering interest in STEAM fields among underrepresented ethnic and gender demographics. Specific activities include:

  • Sciences: Studying astrophysics and planetary science.
  • Technologies: Learning about satellite and spacecraft technologies.
  • Reading:
    • “Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry” by Neil deGrasse Tyson
    • “Rocket Boys” by Homer Hickam
  • Research:
    • Conducting experiments related to space conditions.
    • “The Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design” by Alan C. Tribble
  • Remuneration: Understanding careers in aerospace and potential earnings.
  • Engineering: Designing and building model rockets and satellites.
  • Electronics: Working with sensors and communication devices.
  • Arts: Creating space-themed art and design projects.
  • ‘Aina: Studying Earth observation and its impact on environmental science.
  • Mathematics: Applying complex calculations in orbital mechanics.
  • Mele: Exploring music inspired by space and science fiction.
  • Mo’omeheu: Understanding the cultural significance of space exploration, including traditional Hawaiian navigation.
    • Olelo Hawai’i: “Hōkū” – Star.
  • You: Developing personal and professional skills for future careers in aerospace.