Join High School Aerospace Scholars!

By Hallie Ford, Austin, TX, 12th Grade

Looking for a STEM opportunity other than those offered by the NASA INSPIRE program? If you are currently a high school junior living in Texas, High School Aerospace Scholars is looking for students with a passion for aerospace-related science to participate in semester long online lessons and compete for a week long internship at Johnson Space Center during Summer 2012. 

Last year, I became a High School Aerospace Scholar (HAS) and completed 10 online lessons related to space travel and design as well as a final project during my spring semester of  junior year. Assignments are due about every two weeks and the grades you receive count towards your qualification for a summer experience at JSC. If you keep up with your work by turning assignments in on time and completing work with dedication, you have a good chance of getting to "intern" at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas-all expenses paid! 

What can you expect to learn through High School Aerospace Scholars? Though the curriculum is not as demanding as what you'll find on the INSPIRE website, assignments for the HAS program are mandatory to be able to apply for a summer experience at the end of the semester and require on average at least three hours to complete all parts of the assignment being asked of you. 

If you qualify to spend a week down at JSC you can expect to meet with former NASA engineers Norm Chaffee and Jerry Woodfill (both worked on the Apollo-era missions) and take a tour that not many other visitors get to experience of the Mission Control Centers. You'll visit Rocket Park, where the Saturn V rocket is housed, and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, the largest indoor pool! (It's also known for training astronauts for space walks...)

In addition, students will be split up into four teams during their week at JSC and asked to plan out specific parts of a mission to Mars. Each team is crucial in collaborating to make the mission work, but ultimately responsible for their component of the mission. However, every night teams will compete against each other to earn "money" and whoever has the largest budget surplus is crowned the victor at the end of the week! Expect to get creative with the nightly competitions, that's where the fun is!

Sign up to be a High School Aerospace Scholar today! 

More info at: http://HAS.aerospacescholars.org