Consortium Wins $100,000 NASA Grant to Align NASA and Florida Aerospace Education Programs

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACEPORT — The Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC), a NASA-sponsored partnership of Florida universities and colleges, based at the University of Central Florida, has won a $100,000 grant from NASA to expand an existing Florida/NASA partnership for statewide aerospace education, research and technology development. The grant project will include three initiatives designed to align NASA’s education programs with Florida’s K-20 education system.

“Space education in our schools is an exciting tool to stimulate Florida’s youth to learn more about science, “said Lt. Governor Frank Brogan. “The NASA grant will allow us to continue our efforts and help kids broaden their horizons beyond planet Earth.”

“NASA and Florida are both in the process of re-shaping their education programs to meet the changing needs of our technology-based economy,” said FSGC Director and former Astronaut Samuel T. Durrance. “This grant is an important step forward in our efforts to integrate NASA and other aerospace education resources and concepts into Florida’s K-20 education system.”
The grant project’s activities will include:

ß Teaming with the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) to design an integrated statewide K-20 program that uses NASA education resources and exposes students to career possibilities in aerospace;

ß Developing an “aerospace pipeline” at the university level, making NASA and other aerospace resources available to university students, faculty, and researchers to support aerospace education, research, technology and career development; and

ß Establishing a pilot web-based mentoring program, using the interactive capabilities of the state’s Advanced Learning Environment (ALE), to link high school, college and university students and faculty members with aerospace workers, researchers, and leaders.

FSGC teamed with FDOE, the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI) and Kennedy Space Center to pursue the grant under NASA’s Aerospace Workforce Development grant competition, which was open to all 52 of NASA’s Space Grant Consortia (one in each state plus two in Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico). FSGC’s project was one of 45 selected by NASA for funding. Awards ranged from $20,000 to $100,000 and averaged about $78,000.