NASA and Texas are offering the state鈥檚 high school juniors a chance to spend part of their summer in Houston鈥檚 Johnson Space Center. The scholarship program amounts to more than space camp.
The program鈥檚 highlight may be time spent in Houston. But Stacey Welch says juniors who win a scholarship start with a lot of online work. Welch helps run NASA鈥檚 15 year-old
鈥淭he junior year is very important to students because that鈥檚 when they鈥檙e starting to research, and figure out what career paths, what school they might want to go to," Welch says. "So it鈥檚 kind of a good time for us to jump in and say there鈥檚 an opportunity, this might be of interest to you.鈥�
Welch says NASA鈥檚 interested in STEM students 鈥� those taking science, technology, engineering and math classes. She also says careers inside the National Aeronautics and Space Administration extend way beyond aerospace, mechanical, or civil engineering jobs. For example, she says, NASA needs geologists to help learn about Mars. But there鈥檚 more.
鈥淵ou know, we have to have doctors onsite," says Welch. "We have to have scuba divers who help train the astronauts at the neutral buoyancy lab. There are educators. You know I was a teacher up in Richardson for five years. We need every type of occupation to keep this space program running.鈥�
Welch says the program typically takes a few hundred students a year. The final number depends on funding each year. The application deadline is Nov. 15.
