Outreach - Blog Posts

I really want to work for NASA but I do not have a background in science or engineering. Are there any career paths at NASA that I could still achieve?

Sing About NASA with Our Interns

Each semester, interns at Johnson Space Center (JSC) have the opportunity to contribute to our agency’s missions and help us lead the frontier of human space exploration. Interns at JSC also have the opportunity to enhance their experience through weekly meetings to discuss social and professional development topics, and can also get involved in many different committees.

The intern video committee from each semester comes up with ideas and carries out the entire process of creating a video that puts a creative, youthful spin on spreading NASA messages.

Here are a few highlights from some of the great intern videos that have been created:

Welcome to NASA

“Welcome to NASA” is based off of Flo Rida’s “My House” and was created to raise interest for our Journey to Mars. The lyrics and scenes in the video have been re-imagined in order to inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center. 

Created in 2016

NASA is Good

This latest intern video is based off of Andy Grammer’s “Honey, I’m Good”. This video is designed as an outreach video to raise interest around the One-Year Mission aboard the International Space Station and the Pathways and Student Intern opportunities. 

Created in 2015

NASA Johnson Style

NASA Johnson Style was created as an educational parody of Psy’s "Gangnam Style". The intent of the video is to inform the public about the work being done at Johnson Space Center and throughout the agency. 

Created in 2012

I.S.S. Baby

A group of NASA interns collaborated to create the I.S.S Baby video based off of Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice, Baby”. The video was designed as an outreach video to raise interest around the International Space Station. 

Created in 2008

There are plenty more JSC intern videos. You can watch more and learn about the work done at JSC and throughout the agency HERE.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

We'll be open tonight, Wed. 4/30, 8:30 - 9:45 pm!

Wed. 4/16: We'll be open from 8:30 - 9:45 tonight!

4/2/25: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds and rain. We'll try again next week.

3/19/25: So far it looks likely to cloud up, but we'll wait a few more hours before deciding whether to hold our public night.

Wed. 11/6: We'll be closed tonight - we expect lots of clouds rolling in after sunset. We'll try again next week!

Wed. Oct. 22: We'll be open tonight from 7 - 8 pm. We expect some clouds, but we should still be able to catch some nice glimpses of the sky. Saturn is still the star of the show!

You can schedule one of our astronomy professors to speak at your venue! More info here: https://www.bridgew.edu/.../obser.../traveling-presentations

NASA Co-Op Week 12: Makers & 3D Printers

Well-being of a generation can be measured by the number of children who attend a Maker Faire. Houston's George R Brown Convention Center was filled with programmers, 3D printers,hand made creations, geeky gear and folks passionate about their ability to create. Houston Maker Faire featured 150 booths, soap makers, FIRST/ VEX robotics teams, LEGO builders and cosplay costume makers. Us NASA interns and Co-Ops set up a booth sharing about career opportunities, letting students share ideas with NASA and coloring pages with kids. Folks tried on an Apollo 11 helmet and space walk glove.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Apply for a NASA internship open now, login to apply. Sooner the better. There are also fellowships and scholarships available: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/students/login/

Mentor a FIRST Robotics team. Teams with students age K-12:

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/coachesmentors

Apply to be a NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar open now: https://nas.okstate.edu/ncas/

Activity sheets for students: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/about/resources/jscfacts/activity_coloring_sheets.html

Co-Op for NASA. What does this mean? Flip-flop between working at NASA and studying in college. This is how NASA hires a majority of their Civil Servants. Job openings are updated every week or so: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htm

Accomplishments this week at NASA: https://youtu.be/4iaScOqvI64

Full-time positions at NASA. Use this website and simply search "NASA": https://www.usajobs.gov/

Today the SNC donated dish and appliance sets to FLITE Center. FLITE’s mission is to “guide those aging out of foster care and other vulnerable youth for a successful transition to independence.” 

The SNC is very happy we got the opportunity to give back to our community this way. Kids that have grown up through the foster care system are more vulnerable as they start their adult life and many of them do not have support systems to help them get started on the right foot.

Remember, as a community, there is no issue we can’t tackle together. 

Access, Access, Access

Today is the last day of the original “Libby app” free book club reading of “After The Flood” by Kassandra Montag ends. Along with the freedom, increased access, and connection this personal book club brought there are also many advantages provided by libraries who have set up electronic lending of books.

First, the access greatly increases. There is approximately one library for every 173,224 people in Japan, 15,932 people in the UK, 12,011 people in Switzerland, 58,178 people in Canada, 6,875 people in Norway, 2,799 people in the United States, for every approximate 600,000 people in China, 29,500 people in the Netherlands and 15,100 people in Australia. Some of the discrepancies can be understood as some countries have institutions similar but not considered traditional public libraries. For other countries, (UK and Japan) people are close enough to each other where for the most part a smaller number of libraries doesn’t necessarily mean less access as it does for other countries (China, the US). Countries with public libraries that aren’t able to be as spread out may increase the access to residents through downloading and while a good portion of these areas may also have issues with internet access mobile libraries or programs that can take back the books once the due date occurs will give residents opportunities they otherwise didn’t have.

Second, it should not come as a shock to many that have been in school that the books students are required to have for school are massive, cumbersome and have been somewhat linked to posture and other spine difficulties. Electronic books, even strictly for entertainment or so you can take many when going on a trip because traditional books would add too much weight to your luggage allow you more freedom and access by taking away both a physical and space-related con.

Finally, a great instance with electronic books (depending on the library), is that it’s right there! You don’t have to wait to get home, get in the car or the bus, get your card, travel to the library or have to wait a few days to get the book. You can get it right when you’re in the mood to read it (I believe, that is how it should be set up—I go traditional)