NASA selects SAC students to plan virtual missions to outer space

SAC biology student Julian Delagarza recently put his regular studies aside to spend a week designing a rover mission to Mars for NASA.

Delagarza joined six other SAC students and hundreds of students across the country virtually in the annual NASA 社区 大学 Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program, 2月. 2 – 8. 其他参加的SAC学生是Heinrike Ayala, 安东尼奥Mejia, 沛兹, 会夺得Sahipour, 夏安·威尔逊和萨曼莎·沃伊达.

The NCAS program allows students to get a 关闭r look at NASA’s missions and research while developing a variety of professional skills as they compete in a STEM engineering design challenge.

Delagarza’s NASA experience began in Fall 2021 when he was accepted into the NCAS Mission 1 program, a five-week self-paced online course culminating in a project on moon habitation. His successful completion of the course earned him an invitation to participate in Mission 2 in 2月, which placed him on a team with 11 other students working together to develop a plan for a rover mission to Mars.  

A NASA engineer mentored Delagarza’s team as they planned their mission, 包括设计探测车, 确定任务的科学目标, and figuring out how to get the rover from earth to Mars and back. At the end of the week, they presented their rover project to NASA professionals.

“它被当作一个真正的任务来对待，”德拉加扎说. “这是对美国宇航局团队所做事情的真实模拟.”

Delagarza的队友, SAC学生会夺得Sahipour说, appreciated the chance to work with NASA experts in the program. “It was a great virtual experience of working with NASA mentors and coordinators and meeting NASA scientists and astronauts,萨希普尔说.

Several SAC students came away from the program inspired to work in the aerospace industry. SAC student 安东尼奥Mejia knew that the program would not only teach him about NASA, 而是帮助他确定STEM职业是否适合他.

“我知道NCAS将成为一个试验场, to prove to myself whether this was the career I wanted to pursue,梅佳说. 我不仅得到了这个保证, but I also have the opportunity to put a NASA experience on my resume.”

The experience will help participants with transferring to a four-year university and landing both internships and future jobs, 据医生说. Martha Trevino, Director of the Office of Workplace Learning for the 十大网赌正规网址官网区.

“这是一个不可思议的简历助推器，”Trevino说. “I think the biggest benefit is that it builds self-confidence and a sense of self-efficacy, which is then communicated in any job interview after graduation.”

除了规划太空任务的挑战, students have to juggle their regular coursework with their NASA endeavors. The difficulties of keeping up with class work were worth it to SAC student and Mission 2 graduate Samantha Wojda, 谁喜欢有机会“看到NASA的幕后”.” 

“国家科研院激励我继续努力，”她说. “I feel like it gave me a taste of what my future could be if I continue with my STEM major, so I want to get my degree and go back to NASA as soon as possible!”

SAC student 沛兹 also came away with a goal of working with NASA again. 遵循程序, he is applying for internships with the space agency and wants a career there in the future.

“NASA的虚拟体验令人难以置信，”他说. “这个项目将100%影响我的未来.”

周三, 4月6日, is the deadline to apply for the next NCAS Mission 1 session, 将于2022年秋季举行. A workshop offering information and tips for applying takes place at SAC on Friday, 3月25日, 从上午11:30开始.m. 到1p.m. 学生可以在 阿拉莫.edu/internshipworkshops 或将问题发邮件至 dst-careerprep@阿拉莫.edu           

囊,

照片的文字说明
Top right image: students 沛兹, Cheyenne Wilson, 安东尼奥Mejia, and Julian Delagarza.
左中图片:学生 Heinrike Ayala和会夺得Sahipour.
右下图片:学生Sam Wojda.