Opportunities For Students to Get Involved

Lunar Autonomy Challenge: Selected Teams

December 6, 2024 NeRD

Congratulations to the selected teams and their schools who will participate in the Lunar Autonomy Challenge! 31 teams were selected for the qualifying round, engaging 229 students from colleges and universities in 15 states. Teams will now move on to a Qualifying Round where they will virtually explore and map the lunar surface using a digital twin of NASA’s lunar mobility robot, the ISRU Pilot Excavator (IPEx). Teams will develop software that can perform set actions without human intervention, navigating the digital IPEx in the harsh, low-light conditions of the Moon. The Qualifying Round will extend to February 28, when…

Northwestern University Takes Top Honors in BIG Idea Lunar Inflatables Challenge

November 19, 2024 NeRD

Following eight months of intense research, design, and prototyping, six university teams presented their “Inflatable Systems for Lunar Operations” concepts to a panel of judges at NASA’s 2024 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge forum. The challenge, funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Office of STEM Engagement, seeks novel ideas from higher education on a new topic each year and supports the agency’s Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative in developing new approaches and innovative technologies to pave the way for successful exploration on the surface of the Moon.…

Attention Students: NASA Launches Power Systems Student Essay Contest

November 7, 2024 NeRD

Twelve-year-old, Aadya Karthik of Seattle, Washington; nine-year-old, Rainie Lin of Lexington, Kentucky; and eighteen-year-old, Thomas Lui, winners of the 2023-2024 Power to Explore Student Writing Challenge observe testing at a NASA Glenn cleanroom during their prize trip to Cleveland. Credit: NASA NASA’s fourth annual Power to Explore Student Challenge kicked off November 7, 2024. The science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) writing challenge invites kindergarten through 12th grade students in the United States to learn about radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery integral to many of NASA’s far-reaching…

Watch How Students Help NASA Grow Plants in Space: Growing Beyond Earth

October 28, 2024 NeRD

Learn Home Watch How Students Help NASA… Citizen Science Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read Watch How Students Help NASA Grow Plants in Space: Growing Beyond Earth Since 2015, students from across the USA have been partnering with scientists at NASA to advance research on growing plants in space, ultimately to feed astronauts on long-distance space missions, as part of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden’s Growing Beyond Earth project, which is now in its 9th year. This classroom-based…

Submit Your 2025 Event Proposal to NASA

October 23, 2024 NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Shauntina Lilly, a NASA Glenn public affairs officer, smiles as she speaks to students about NASA’s available internships and educational resources during the STEM Goes Red for Girls event at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, on October 21. Credit: NASA/Debbie Welch NASA is making event plans for the 2025 calendar year, and we want to pencil you in! We are looking for the Midwest’s biggest and best community events with the broadest audiences…

Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New Guided Tour of Jupiter’s Ocean Moon

October 23, 2024 NeRD

Learn Home Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New… Europa Clipper Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 3 min read Europa Trek: NASA Offers a New Guided Tour of Jupiter’s Ocean Moon NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is on its way to explore a moon of Jupiter that researchers believe may be one of the best places in the Solar System to search for life beyond Earth. While the spacecraft makes its more-than-five year journey to Europa, scientists, students, teachers, and the…

GLOBE Eclipse and Civil Air Patrol: An Astronomical Collaboration

October 7, 2024 NeRD

Learn Home GLOBE Eclipse and Civil Air… Earth Science Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 3 min read GLOBE Eclipse and Civil Air Patrol: An Astronomical Collaboration The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a volunteer organization that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. The organization has an award-winning aerospace education program that promotes Science, Technology Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM)-related careers and activities. The total solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 was a unique opportunity…

Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement in Colorado

October 3, 2024 NeRD

Learn Home Culturally Inclusive Planetary… Biological & Physical… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 2 min read Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement in Colorado In August 2024, the NASA Science Activation program’s Planetary Resources and Content Heroes (ReaCH) project held a Culturally Inclusive Planetary Engagement workshop at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colorado for the planetary science community. These workshops are designed to enhance the ability of scientists to engage Black and Latinx youth and their families…

NASA, US Department of Education Bring STEM to After-School Programs

September 23, 2024 NeRD

Office of STEM Engagement Deputy Associate Administrator Kris Brown, right, and U.S. Department of Education Deputy Secretary Cindy Marten, left, watch as a student operates a robot during a STEM event to kickoff the 21st Century Community Learning Centers NASA and U.S. Department of Education partnership, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at Wheatley Education Campus in Washington. Students engaged in NASA hands-on activities and an engineering design challenge. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani) NASA and the U.S. Department of Education are teaming up to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math…

NASA, US Department of Education to Launch STEM Project in Washington

September 18, 2024 NeRD

Students are recognized for their hard work in STEM-related extended-day programs at their school through a partnership with NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Credit: NASA Media are invited to the kickoff event of a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Department of Education at 4 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 23, at the Wheatley Education Campus in Washington. The interagency project, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, aims to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education during after-school hours. During the event, media will have the opportunity…