NASA Gets Help Building Mars Rovers from College Students
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CREDIT: NASA |
NASA is giving community college students across the country the chance to be part of the research process to determine the possibility of a mission to Mars. As part of NASA's National Community College Aerospace Scholars 80 students from community colleges across the country have been selected to travel to a NASA center to develop robotic rovers.
The students will visit either NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. or the Johnson Space Center in Houston. There they will establish teams and form fictitious companies pursuing Mars exploration . Each team will shape a company infrastructure to develop and design a prototype rover. The on-site experience includes a tour of NASA facilities and briefings from agency scientists, engineers and astronauts.
"This innovative experience allows students to take what they've learned in the classroom and apply it to technical questions in the real world, simulating what NASA engineers and scientists do every day," said Leland Melvin, NASA associate administrator for education. "It will help them develop the skills they need to be the problem solving explorers of tomorrow."
The National Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program, which is in its pilot year, was designed to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
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