NASA Offers Scholarships To Lure Students Into Aeronautics

The Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in NASA is offering students scholarships in hopes of luring them into studying aeronautics and other fields.

That directorate will accept applications from undergraduate and graduate students between this Friday and March 17, for its fall 2008 scholarship program.

The space agency wishes to attract highly-motivated students to aeronautics and related fields.

Undergraduates in their second year of study can earn up to $15,000 per year for two years, and graduate students can earn up to $35,000 per year for three years.

Money can be used for tuition, room and board, and other school-related expenses. Students also can apply for optional summer internships at NASA research centers to earn an additional $10,000 in stipends.

Students who have not committed to a specific academic institution or program can apply, but if accepted into the scholarship program, they must be admitted into a suitable aeronautical engineering program or related field of study at an accredited U.S. university by fall. All applicants must be U.S. citizens.

The directorate works to enhance the state of aeronautics for the nation, transform the U.S. air transportation system and develop the knowledge, tools and technologies to support future air and space vehicles. Its focus is on cutting-edge, fundamental research in traditional aeronautical disciplines, as well as emerging fields with promising applications to aeronautics.

Glory Earth Science Satellite Program Costs Up 30 Percent

Costs of the Glory Earth Science satellite program are now estimated at $325 million, which would be 30 percent above earlier estimates, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin told Congress.

He asked, however, that lawmakers permit the program to continue, saying it would provide vital information.

Griffin appeared before the House Science and Technology Committee, which has oversight of NASA and authorizes its programs and budgets.

"I must report to you, per the NASA Authorization Act of 2005 major program reporting requirements that originated from this committee, that NASA’s current development cost estimate of about $325 million for the Glory Earth Science mission has exceeded the 30 percent threshold in cost growth," Griffin said.

"Thus, it requires explicit congressional authorization in the next eighteen months to continue. Glory is a high priority for the Earth science community, and I hope that you will allow it to continue."

Glory would study Earth climate change, and also track radiation from the sun. The satellite will be a remote-sensing Earth-orbiting observatory designed to achieve two separate mission objectives. One is to collect data on the chemical, microphysical, and optical properties, and spatial and temporal distributions of aerosols on Earth. The other is to continue collection of total solar irradiance data for the long-term climate record.