The COVID-19 global pandemic has transformed the relationship between science and society. The ensuing public health crisis has placed aspects of this relationship in harsh relief; perceptions of scientific credibility, risk, uncertainty, and democracy are all publicly debated in ways unforeseen before the pandemic. This unprecedented situation presents opportunities to reassess how certain disciplines contribute to the public understanding of science. Space education has long provided a lens through which people can consider the intersection of the natural world with society. Space science is critical to understanding how human activity and pollution affect global warming, which in turn, inextricably links it to perceptions of the natural world, environmental change, science communication, and public engagement. The pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in how space education projects connect with public audiences, with participation pivoting to online engagement. This transition, coupled with the renewed societal examination of trust in science, means that it is an ideal time for the field of space education to reflect on its development. Whether it evolves into its own distinct field, or remains an area that straddles disciplinary boundaries, such as science education, communication, and public engagement, are crucial considerations when scientific trust, accountability, and responsibility are in question. This paper describes the current state of space education, recent advances in the field, and relevant COVID-19 challenges. The experience of an international space education project in adapting to online engagement is recounted, and provides a perspective on potential future directions for the field.

European Researchers’ Night is an annual pan-European synchronized event devoted to public engagement with research. It was first held in 2005 and now occurs in over 400 cities across Europe, with the aim of bringing researchers closer to the general public. To investigate social inclusion in these events, we conducted survey research across three national contexts (Ireland, Malta and the UK) and events in seven cities between 2016 and 2019 (n = 1590). The results from this exploratory descriptive study confirmed one hypothesis, namely that event attendees had substantially higher levels of university qualification than the national publics. This is in line with wider patterns of unequal participation in public engagement with research activities based on socio-economic status. However, we also found mixed evidence on the prevalence of ethnic minority representation among event attendees compared to the general population, thus failing to uphold the second hypothesis that predicted an over-representation of white majority participants. This second finding diverges from existing research findings about ethnic diversity amongst science communication audiences, raising the possibility that some public engagement events are over-performing on this dimension of social inclusion. Overall, the findings demonstrate that European Researchers’ Night has potential for addressing the critical goal of enhancing the diversity of audiences for public engagement with research, even as it falls short on the key metric of socio-economic diversity.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has resulted in a massive amount of global research on the social and human dimensions of the disease. Between academic researchers, governments, and polling firms, thousands of survey projects have been launched globally, tracking aspects like public opinion, social impacts, and drivers of disease transmission and mitigation. This deluge of research has created numerous potential risks and problems, including methodological concerns, duplication of efforts, and inappropriate selection and application of social science research techniques. Such concerns are more acute when projects are launched under the auspices of quick response, time-pressured conditions–and are magnified when such research is often intended for rapid public and policy-maker consumption, given the massive public importance of the topic.

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