As economies throughout the world have sought to weather the financial storm caused by the recent recession, innovation has been a central plank of many recovery efforts.  In a bid to bolster the innovative capabilities of a population, many countries have focused attention on the education they provide to citizens, especially in the science, technology, engineering and maths that form the STEM acronym.

The government have invested a decent chunk in trying to attract students into these topics.  Whilst these efforts may have achieved a degree of success, it’s hard to believe they could trump a recent announcement by Khan Academy.

The social learning site, formed by Salman Khan to provide online maths tuition, has teamed up with space agency NASA to provide a series of online tutorials that aim to boost student awareness and interest in STEM topics.

The partnership was launched recently at the 6th annual White House Science Fair, with the various tutorials offered through the site designed to engage students in the kind of scientific and mathematical protocols used by NASA every day.  Students can for instance explore some of the challenges involved in landing a spacecraft on Mars, as well as all manner of other facets of space exploration.

The collaboration between NASA and Khan Academy began last summer, when NASA began supplying both technical content and subject matter expertise to ensure that Khan Academy tutorials were accurate and authentic.  It’s hard to dispute the huge impact Khan Academy has had, with over 2 million subscribers to their YouTube channel, and their videos having been watched over 400 million times.

You can find out more about the partnership with NASA via the video below.