Dear Friends in the Education Community,

 

I would like to share with you two exciting programs that I learned about during a recent conversation with officials from NASA, the agency in charge of our nation’s space exploration. To encourage student interest in STEM, NASA allows K-12 schools, colleges, and universities to apply for and receive free donations of space artifacts to put on display for students or to use in class.

These artifacts come directly from space voyages and space-related technology. They include, but are not limited to, pieces of space shuttles, items from the Hubble Space Telescope, consoles from the Johnson Space Center, items from the International Space Station, pieces of space suits, and much more. New artifacts are added to the program’s inventory as they become available.

These artifacts are free and applicants only have to pay for shipping costs.

NASA offers two separate programs: the NASA Artifacts Program and the NASA Special Items Program.  The Artifacts Program requires the submission of an application that becomes available about four times per year and the competition is open for approximately three weeks. A new competition just opened on October 21. 

Unlike the Artifacts Program, the Special Items Program is continuously open and does not require a special application. However, the free space technology is only available on a first come, first served basis.   

For both programs, schools, colleges and universities must register and be approved by NASA to participate. You’ll need your institution’s IPEDS number to complete the registration. For more information on how to register with NASA and view the available inventory, visit this website: http://gsaxcess.gov/nasawel.htm.

Motivate our kids to prepare for careers of the future by putting a piece of outer space in their hands.


Sincerely,

Congressman Henry Cuellar