The Museum's mission is to play a leading role in transforming the nation's relationship with science and technology. This role becomes ever more important as science and technology shape and reshape our lives and world, and it means we: Promote active citizenship informed by the world of science and technology Inspire lifelong appreciation of the importance and impact of science and engineering Encourage young people of all backgrounds to explore and develop their interests in understanding the natural and human-made world. To do this, we will continue to build our position as a leader in the world's museum community and use our educational perspective as an informal learning institution to help the formal pre K-12 education system.