NASA Hosts Virginia Scholars During Two Weeklong Summer Academies

HAMPTON, V.A. – After spending six months learning and communicating via the web, more than 80 rising seniors from across Virginia will finish an intensive distance-learning program with a weeklong summer academy onsite at NASA Langley Research Center.

The Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program is an interactive, on-line science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning experience that offers selected students workforce experience as well as college credit. This year the academies will be held July 11-17 and July 25-31.
While at NASA, scholars will utilize what they learned on-line by designing and implementing plans for a human journey to Mars. They will also tour various facilities and talk with NASA scientists, engineers and technologists who are actually working on moon and Mars missions.

Media days will be held Thursdays, July 16 and July 30, at 9:30 a.m. at the Reid Conference Center. Reporters will have the opportunity to watch scholars program and test their robots during a demonstration on both days. To attend a media day, contact Amy Johnson at 864-7022 by close of business Wednesday, July 15 or 29, to arrange for badging and escort onto the center.

The Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars program is modeled after a distance-learning program designed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas. The Virginia program is managed by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.