NASA Resources for Students

Whether you're in kindergarten or graduate school, NASA offers opportunities, programs, and internships for students of all ages.

The links below will guide you through the programs available. Also included are links to cool pictures and other fun and games for space enthusiasts.

K-8 resources:

NASA and Zathura - NASA has partnered with motion picture makers Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. and Houghton Mifflin Company to engage students in science and mathematics. On Nov. 16, The Houghton Mifflin Company and NASA will give students a unique behind-the-scenes look at the story of "Zathura." They will connect author Chris Van Allsburg and NASA scientist Jennifer Keyes to classrooms through educational webcasts. The pair will make interactive presentations via NASA's Digital Learning Network with Explorer Schools in California, Alaska, Mississippi, Virginia, Texas, Florida and Idaho. The presentations also will be webcast.

International Space Station (ISS) EarthKAM - Through ISS EarthKAM, NASA provides amazing images of the Earth from the ISS. Teachers and students can use these images to learn more about the planet that we live on.

Imagine Mars - Learn about art, science and technology using Mars exploration. Design communities on Mars, focusing on music, art, literature, and other humanities, while considering the technological and cultural challenges that would face a Martian community.

High School Resources:

Dropping In a Microgravity Environment (DIME) - NASA competition program which allows high-school teams to design and build a science experiment which will then be operated in a NASA microgravity drop tower facility.

NASA Student Launch Initiative - This unique hands-on experience allows students to design, build, and test reusable rockets with scientific payloads. Several schools compete annually to construct a vehicle that is designed to reach an altitude of one-mile above ground level.

The Great Moonbuggy Race - Teams of high school students compete annually in this competition to build and drive a human-powered moonbuggy. Competitors must complete a half-mile course that is built to replicate the lunar surface.

The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts Student Visions of the Future Program (NSVFP) - Got a "revolutionary" idea? NSVFP competitively awards research projects for university students. Individual students or multidisciplinary groups of students, overseen by a faculty advisor, are given the opportunity to develop proposals addressing NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts topics.

NASA Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP) - Pairs high school students (age 16+) with mentors to work on NASA-related projects at NASA centers and universities across the country

Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars Program (LARSS) - 10-week paid summer internship at NASA Langley for rising juniors and seniors interested in pursuing aerospace-related disciplines. Participants will conduct research under the supervision of a mentor and attend technical lectures by prominent engineers and scientists.

Other NASA Internships - A fairly comprehensive list of internships and summer programs for high school and undergraduates at NASA centers and several other museums and research institutes.

Undergraduate and Graduate Resources:

NASA Academy - An intensive resident summer program for a diverse group of college undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing professional careers in space-related fields.

Microgravity Experiences - Want to experience zero-g? Undergraduates can design experiments and fly them aboard the "vomet comet"

Lunar and Planetary Institute Summer Internship Program - A wonderful opportunity to experience cutting-edge research in the planetary sciences. Undergraduate students work one-on-one with scientists at the Lunar and Planetary Institute or Johnson Space Center.

The Great Moonbuggy Race - Teams of college students compete annually in this competition to build and drive a human-powered moonbuggy. Competitors must complete a half-mile course that is built to replicate the lunar surface.

NASA Undergraduate Student Research Program - This program offers junior and senior undergraduates across the US mentored research experiences at participating NASA Centers and research support facilities. 10 week summer and 15 week fall semester programs

NASA Cooperative Education Program - These programs are designed to combine academic studies with on-the-job training and experience and to give students an opportunity to work at a NASA Field Center while completing their education. Each NASA Field Center manages its own program.

Achieving competence in Computing, Engineering, and Space Science (ACCESS) - a 10-week paid internship program run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at NASA centers around the country for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities who have strong backgrounds in science and a desire to pursue technical careers. Students are given the opportunity to work one-on-one with scientists in their areas of interest.

Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) - 10-week paid summer internship at NASA Langley for graduate students pursuing aerospace-related disciplines. Participants will conduct research under the supervision of a mentor and attend technical lectures by prominent engineers and scientists

Other NASA Internships - A fairly comprehensive list of internships and summer programs for high school and undergraduates at NASA centers and several other museums and research institutes

NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) - awards fellowships for graduate study leading to masters or doctoral degrees in the fields of science, mathematics, and engineering related to NASA research and development. Fellowships are renewable up to three years.

Amazing Images:

Planetary Photojournal - The Jet Propulsion Labs brings you a comprehensive directory of online planetary images. Just pick a planet!

Astronomy Picture of the Day - Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Bookmark it, learn something cool everyday!

Hubble images - Downloadable images, videos, wallpaper, and more of our spectacular universe!

Earth as Art - Here you can view your home planet through beautiful images taken by NASA satellites.

Fun and Games:

For Younger Kids:

NASA Edspace (grades K-12) - NASA is recruiting students, educators, and families to join the Earth Crew Team to participate in ground-based projects and missions to support the Educator Astronaut Program.

Mars Fun Zone (grades K-8) - Interactive website full of fun games and activities to help you explore Mars.

Space Place (grades 5-8) - Check out games, animations, projects, and tons of fun facts about Earth, space and technology.

StarChild (grades 5-8) - Lots of cool info about our Solar System, the Universe, and other space stuff. Also available in German, Italian, and Portuguese (Spanish coming soon!).

Windows to the Universe games (grades K-8) – A large collection of science games, including puzzles, word searches, coloring books, and adlibs.

For Older Kids (and adults):

Solar System Collisions - Blow up a planet! This simple program let's you pick a planet and the composition, size and speed of your impactor and see what happens when the two collide.

WorldWind 1.3 - World Wind allows any user to zoom from satellite altitude into any place on Earth, leveraging high resolution LandSat imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data to experience Earth terrain (or any planet with the data) in visually rich 3D, just as if they were really there.

The Basics of Spaceflight - an online tutorial to introduce the range of concepts associated with deep space missions.

Spacecraft Models - you can download, print out and assemble these free spacecraft models! This page also has models to assemble.

Bad Astronomy - A blog maintained by Dr. Phil Plait, an astronomer, teacher, lecturer and all-around science junkie. This site de-bunks bad science and common misconceptions, like Astrology and the so-called "Apollo Moon Hoax". There are also sections which explore the scientific inaccuracies of numerous movies and T.V. programs.