The NASA Academy for Space Exploration is an intensive resident summer insitute of higher learning designed to guide the future leaders of the United States space programs by exposing them to many facets of NASA and other sectors of the aerospace industry. This unique and prestigious internship program is designed for talented college upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students interested in pursuing professional and leadership careers in space-related fields.
The NASA Academy program is designed to present a broad picture of the organization of the NASA agency, and some of its most important current and planned science, engineering, education, and technology enterprises. Additionally, it presents a number of non-technical areas of critical significance, such as management, budgeting, safety, personnel and career development, leadership, space law, and international cooperation Students conduct supervised research in GRC laboratories, attend lectures and workshops, and participate in visits to other NASA Centers and space-related laboratories and industries.
NASA Academy provides immersive and integrated multidisciplinary exposure and training for students with various backgrounds and career aspirations. The academic curriculum balances opportunities for direct contact with advanced science and engineering research and development and an awareness of the complex managerial, political, financial, social, and human issues faced by the past, present, and future aerospace programs.
By participating in the NASA Academy program, the students join the NASA Academy Alumni Association (NAAA). The NAAA works to serve both present and past members of the Academy program by promoting communications, fellowship, camaraderie, and an esprit de corps among and between all Alumni. Additionally, the NAAA seeks to provide a mechanism to facilitate Alumni participation in programs and projects, both internal and external to the NAAA, that promote NASA and space education, and that communicate the excitement of space exploration and development to the general populace.
Alumni of the program have gone on to become the following (as of 2001):
- Rhodes and Truman Scholars.
- International Space University (ISU) Graduates.
- Test Pilots (Air Force / Navy).
- 70+ pursuing PhD/Masters (many at institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cal-Tech, Stanford, and Princeton).
- 30+ returned for positions at NASA Installations (JSC, KSC, GSFC, ARC, MSFC)
- Many others work in Industry: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing, Space-X, Orbital Sciences…and the list goes on.
- Coming soon: Astronaut (one alumnus is currently in the top levels of the astronaut selection process).