Maryland Space Grant Consortium - Undergraduate Program

The NASA Academy was founded in 1993 (as the "NASA Space Academy") at the Goddard Space Flight Center by Gerald (Jerry) Soffen , former Mars Viking project scientist, architect of the NASA Astrobiology program, and first Director of the Goddard Office of University Programs. Jerry was an accomplished scientist and a dedicated educator. He took advantage of the unusual opportunities presented to him during his career and realized the importance of "mentoring" in the life of young professionals. In his vision, the Academy was intended to exceed in purpose and content all the other regular internships by familiarizing its participants with as many facets of the NASA agency as possible. With his dynamic personality and unique leadership, he opened many gateways and defined a new standard of excellence.

As the reputation of the Goddard Academy widened, new NASA Academy Programs were started at the Marshall Space Flight Center (1994), the Ames Research Center (1997), and the Dryden Flight Research Center (1997). In recent years, the Goddard and Ames Academies have functioned regularly.

The name of the program changed from "NASA Space Academy" to "NASA Academy" at specific NASA Centers. A continuous effort is being made to establish or re-establish Academies at various NASA Centers, with different profiles and focus areas.

Jerry Soffen died on November 22, 2000. We honor his legacy by continuing the Academy program that he loved so well.

In 2002, the NASA Academy celebrated ten years of successful activity. So far, 365 participants have graduated from the program.

In 1996, a German engineering student from the Imperial College in London, England, attended the Goddard Academy, as did an Italian student from La Sapienza in Rome, Italy, in 1999. In 2002, an alumnus of the International Space University (ISU) joined the Goddard Academy staff. This year, as part of a pilot international program, a French student will attend the Goddard Academy, and ISU will contribute both a staff member and a lecturer.

The 18 participants in the 2003 NASA Goddard Academy have been selected from a pool of 65 financially supported applicants representing 29 states in the continental USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, and France. For the territorial USA, citizenship or permanent residence was required. Selection was based following criteria :

Both the selection process and placement of the Academy participants in Goddard's research groups were assisted by recommendations from faculty, administrators, academic supervisors, and co-workers, and the applicants' self-profiling essays.

The NASA Academy is an intensive resident summer program of higher learning for college undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing professional and leadership careers in space-related fields.

The NASA Academy program is designed to present a comprehensive package of information and experiences about the organization of the NASA Agency, some of its most important current and planned science, engineering, education, and technology enterprises, as well as a number of non-technical areas of critical significance, such as management, budgeting, safety, personnel and career development, leadership, space law, international cooperation, etc. Besides attending lectures and workshop s, you will be involved in supervised research in GSFC laboratories, and will participate in visits to NASA Headquarters , other NASA Centers and facilities, the Applied Physics Laboratory , and a number of space-related academic laboratories and industries.

The NASA Academy at Goddard Space Flight Center is expected to be coordinated with the University of Maryland at College Park: College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences; the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the Department of Geography. If such an arragment is concluded, participants will receive Maryland academic credit. The draft "Course Description" for the Bulletin of the University of Maryland at College Park is:

Course description: A ten-week resident summer institute at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for juniors, seniors, and first-year graduate students interested in pursuing professional and leadership careers in aerospace-related fields. The national scholarship program includes research in a Goddard laboratory and a combination of lectures and workshop s on the mission, current activities, and management of NASA. Students interested in the Academy will find on-line information at http://www.nasa-academy.nasa.gov. Application should be made before January 31. Sponsorship by an affiliated State Space Consortium is recommended."

Maryland Space Grant Consortium proudly sponsors the following three students for the NASA Academy 2003 at the Goddard Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center:
	Meghan B. Baker La Vida Cooper Steve Mitchell