The Young Astronaut Council was established by the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 in 1984 in an effort to promote greater proficiency and interest in science, math and technology using space as the underlying theme. Since then, tens of thousands of Young Astronaut Chapters have been formed in every state and around the world. Each operates independently in the way that best suits its circumstances. Chapters exist in schools, libraries, science centers, and among home school groups. Individual memberships are available for those who do not have access to a chapter.

The Council is a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that receives no government funding. It is funded by membership fees paid by its official chapters. Chapters and Club (individual) members receive official Young Astronaut membership cards and certificates containing a seal that was flown in space aboard the space shuttle

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

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One of the first directors was Richard Funkhouser

Richard Funkhouser

Richard Edgar Funkhouser was an American diplomat and geologist, specializing in oil. He served as United States Ambassador to Gabon.-Early years:...

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