OREANDA-NEWS.  January 18, 2012. YouTube, Lenovo, and Space Adventures in cooperation with space agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), today announced the sixty finalists of YouTube Space Lab (youtube.com/spacelab), the global science competition that challenges 14-18 year-olds to design a science experiment that can be performed in space. YouTube Space Lab received thousands of video submissions from more than 80 countries, a remarkable number given the uniquechallenge of designing an experiment that could actually be carried out in space - something that has traditionally been the mission of qualified astronauts and scientists. Entrants not only described their science experiment ideas via video, but demonstrated and animated the procedures they were submitting.

 The U.S. led with 10 finalists, followed by India with nine. Rounding out the top five countries in terms of total submissions are Poland, Canada, and Spain. U.S. finalists hail from states including California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Vermont. A complete list of finalists is below.

 Starting today through January 24, the YouTube community will be invited to judge these entries alongside a prestigious panel of judges, including renowned scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator of Education and former Astronaut Leland Melvin, ESA Astronaut Frank De Winne, JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Lalibertй, to determine the winners. YouTube users and the judging panel will determine 6 regional winners (2 teams from each of the 3 regions) who will travel to Washington, DC, where the global winners (2 teams from each age group) will be announced in March.

 "We’re thrilled with the response to YouTube Space Lab,” said Zahaan Bharmal, Google’s Head of Marketing Operations, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and the man behind the idea for Space Lab. “They rose to the challenge - demonstrating great imagination, creativity and passion with their ideas. Our mission was to inspire the next generation and the response shows, we've done just that. Today's Space Lab entrants are tomorrow's space explorers.”