Mission X activities are developed for young people up to 14 years old, but can be adapted by Team Leaders for other age groups and skill levels. Participation of teams of students is recommended. While there is no minimum or maximum number of team members required to participate, students are encouraged to work with at least 1 other person. Each team must be supported by a Team Leader (teacher, mentor, educator, or parent). Mission X is open worldwide.

FAQ – Mission X

Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is Mission X?

Mission X is a free educational and inspirational project that challenges students to train like an astronaut through physical exercises and scientific investigations, helping them learn the key elements to keeping fit and staying healthy in space and on Earth.

What is the Walk to the Moon Challenge?

In the Walk to the Moon Challenge, teams of students can complete the Mission X activities and submit them on the website to earn steps. Steps earned by all of the teams across the world help our mascots, Luna and Leo, walk 384 400km – the distance from Earth to the Moon!

What are the opening and closing dates of the Walk to the Moon Challenge?

The 2024 Walk to the Moon Challenge takes place 20 September 2023 – 31 May, 2024. See the full timeline here.

Team Leaders may still register, download, and complete the Mission X activities outside of the challenge to suit their timetable. However, activities can not be submitted and steps can not be earned outside of the Walk to the Moon Challenge window.

Who can participate?

Mission X activities are developed for young people up to 14 years old, but can be adapted by Team Leaders for other age groups and skill levels.
Participation of teams of students is recommended. While there is no minimum or maximum number of team members required to participate, students are encouraged to work with at least 1 other person. Each team must be supported by a Team Leader (teacher, mentor, educator, or parent).
Mission X is open worldwide.

My team is over 14 years old, can they still participate?

Yes! Team Leaders are welcome to adapt the Mission X activities to suit the age and skill level of their team members.

Is Mission X available in different languages?

Yes! Please use the language dropdown menu at the top right corner of our webpage to automatically change the website (and all of the files* you download from the site) into your language of choice.

*If a file is not available in the language selected, it will download in English.

Team Leaders

Who can be a Team Leader?

A Team Leader must be a teacher, mentor, educator, or parent, over the age of 18. To create a Team Leader account, sign-up here.

Can a Team Leader lead multiple teams?

Yes! Team Leaders can register multiple teams. Once you create a Team Leader account and login, you will be able to register new teams on your Team Leader Dashboard.

I had an account last year, but it no longer exists. What happened?

Due to an update in our Privacy Policy, all Team Leader accounts created before September 2022 that did not accept our new policy by the end of 2022 have been deactivated. To participate in Mission X 2023 you will need to sign-up for a new Team Leader account.

National Organisers

Who is the the National Organiser for my country?

National Organisers and their partners help facilitate the Mission X project in each of our participating countries by providing local support. If your country is an official participant in Mission X 2024, you can find your National Organiser here.

Contact details for your National Organiser are also available on your country page in the menu bar.

There is no National Organiser for my country, can I still participate?

Yes, you can still take part in the challenge! If your country does not have a National Organiser, your registration will be managed by our UK National Organiser.

How to Apply to become a National Organiser

Coming soon

Activities

Where can I find the Mission X activities?

The Mission X activities are accessible through the Activities page in the menu bar. Using the tags at the top of the page, you can filter by type, theme, skill or the value of the activity for earning steps. Activities can be viewed and downloaded individually from each activity page, or you can download the entire catalogue at once by clicking the “Download all activities” button at the bottom of the Activities page.

What kind of activities can my Team complete in Mission X?

The Mission X activities are comprised of:

Physical Activities: hands-on training missions targeting strength, endurance, coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and more.
Science Activities: investigations which focus on STEM subjects and allow students to practice scientific reasoning, critical thinking, teamwork skills, and more.
National Activities: activities relating to training like an astronaut that can be found through National Organisers’ websites. These activities can be submitted as “Other Physical Activity” or “Other Science Activity” when submitting activities to earn steps in your account.

Are all of the activities available in multiple languages?

The Mission X Team works hard to make as many activities as possible available in multiple languages. If an activity is presently only in English, it will be stated on the activities’ page and it will appear in English if you use the “Download all activities” button.

To download activities in your native language, use the language dropdown menu at the top right corner of our webpage. This will automatically change the website and all files downloaded from the website into your language of choice.*

*If a file is not available in the language selected, it will download in English.

Does my Team have to complete specific activities for the Walk to the Moon Challenge?

Nope! Unless your National Organiser has instructed that your country is completing specific activities only, you may complete whichever Mission X activities you wish. Throughout the challenge, you can complete as many or as little activities as you’d like, and you can even complete the same activity multiple times.

Earning Steps

How do I submit activities for the Walk to the Moon Challenge?

STEP 1: Log-in to your Team Leader account.

STEP 2: Click the Submit Activities button for each of your registered Teams.

STEP 3: Select the activity your team completed. Score how well your Team completed the activity. Click Submit.

STEP 4: Earned steps are automatically generated and added to the Walk to the Moon Challenge page!

How are the steps calculated? Are some activities worth more than others?

For each activity submitted, the amount of steps earned are automatically calculated through a weighted formula. For your information, the formula is comprised of:

Difficulty of the activity (65%): Science activities are worth most, then Physical activities, then National Activities.
Self-selected activity criteria scores (5% for each criterion): When submitting an activity, the Team Leader must score the Team’s performance of the activity using the provided criteria.
Number of team members (10%): Teams with more than 11 students are worth the most, then teams with 6-10 students, then teams with 1-5 students.

The raw score produced by this formula is multiplied by our internal “step factor”, which then outputs a final number of steps earned.

How often should I submit activities?

You may submit activities as frequently or as infrequently as you’d like during the Walk to the Moon Challenge. Keep in mind that each activity needs to be submitted individually, so regular submissions (e.g. once per week) are advised.

FAQ