WEST LAFAYETTE — Indiana fifth graders will have an opportunity to send their ideas to new heights through a statewide essay competition connected to Purdue 1, Purdue University’s upcoming all-Boilermaker suborbital research spaceflight.
The Purdue 1 essay competition invites Hoosier students in fifth grade during the 2026-27 school year to explore questions about space, innovation, and their communities.
The competition is a collaboration among the College of Engineering, the Office of Engagement, and Purdue Extension.
A Purdue crew that includes a faculty member, a graduate student, and alumni is expected to lift off in 2027 aboard a Virgin Galactic spacecraft. The mission will advance Purdue’s land-grant responsibilities in research, teaching, and engagement while demonstrating how Purdue can extend learning beyond Earth.
Essay submissions will be accepted from Oct. 1 through Nov. 30 and may participate through their classrooms or submit independently with the involvement of a parent or guardian. Teachers who engage an entire class are encouraged to select and submit up to three student essays.
To establish the final essay question, a series of prompts were proposed and then voted on by a group of Purdue alumni. The prompts encouraged students to think creatively and critically about topics such as growing food during a long space journey, designing inventions for weightlessness, contributing personal skills to a mission, studying Earth from space, or explaining why space exploration should continue.
The Purdue 1 crew chose the final essay question from the top three prompts with the most votes.
The final essay question is: “Spaceflights require a large team of people with a variety of skills in order to be successful. From designing the flight suits to packing food, everyone works together for a successful mission. Think about a subject you love in school or a hobby you enjoy doing in your free time (like art, writing, math, building things, or sports). If you were joining the team for a future space mission, how could you use that specific interest, hobby, or skill to help the crew succeed? What job will you create for yourself on the team?
“The Purdue 1 mission is about more than a single flight. It is about opening new possibilities for research, learning, and public engagement,” said Mark Lundstrom, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering. “Indiana’s young people bring imagination, curiosity and a fresh perspective to the challenges of exploration. We hope this competition encourages fifth graders to see that space missions need not only future engineers and scientists, but also communicators, artists, collaborators and problem-solvers — and that their ideas can help shape what comes next.”
Roberto Gallardo, vice president for engagement at Purdue, said that the competition helps connect communities to spaceflight.
“The Purdue 1 essay competition for Indiana fifth graders captures the spirit of the Purdue 1 mission,” he said. “Meaningfully engaging with communities across the state for a significant event in Purdue’s history is a win-win all around.”
Judges selected by Purdue Extension 4-H Youth Development will evaluate essays on writing quality, creativity, critical thinking, organization, and connection to the competition theme. The judging pool may include Purdue alumni, faculty, staff and students; engineers; 4-H alumni; 4-H volunteers; and community members.
Organizers aim to select a winner from each of Indiana’s 92 counties in which eligible entries are received. Winners are expected to be announced in early spring 2027.
Each county winner will receive a personalized Purdue 1 Indiana mission patch bearing the student’s name. If mission conditions permit, the section of the patch displaying the winners’ names will accompany the Purdue 1 crew on its suborbital flight.
“Through 4-H, we encourage young people to be curious, think creatively and develop the confidence to share their ideas,” said Angela Abbott, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and director of Purdue Extension. “The Purdue 1 essay competition brings those goals together in an exciting way, challenging fifth graders across Indiana to imagine how their own talents and perspectives could contribute to the future of space exploration.”
The competition will connect young people in communities across the state to Purdue’s legacy as the Cradle of Astronauts and to the future of academic research in space. Purdue has 30 alumni who have flown in space or have been selected as NASA astronaut candidates.
Students may use AI tools for their essay with the permission of a parent or guardian, but most of their submission must be original work. Any use of AI must be cited, accompanied by an explanation of how the tool contributed to the essay.
Complete competition rules, eligibility requirements, judging criteria, privacy and intellectual property terms, submission instructions, and other details are available at the Purdue 1 essay competition website.
