National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program
American institions of space research
The space-grant colleges are educational institutions in the United States that comprise a network of fifty-three consortia established in 1988 for the purpose of outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Each consists of multiple independent space-grant institutions, with one of the institutions acting as lead.
Similar programs include sea-grant colleges (instituted in 1966) and sun-grant colleges (instituted in 2003).
Objectives
The program states the following objectives:
Establish and maintain a national network of universities with interests and capabilities in aeronautics, outer space, and related fields;
Encourage cooperative programs among universities, the aerospace industry, and federal, state, and local governments;
Encourage interdisciplinary training, research, and public service programs related to aerospace;
Recruit and train U.S. citizens, especially women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities, for careers in aerospace science and technology; and,
Promote a strong science, mathematics, and technology education base from elementary through secondary levels.
History
The National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program was established in 1988 by the United States Congress following the success of similar scholarship opportunities in the oceanic Sea Grant and agricultural Land Grant fields. The catch-all term Space Grant refers back to these previous federal programs. In 1989, the program was given over to NASA, which administers it in the same way that NOAA administers Sea Grant.
The first meeting of the National Council of Space Grant Directors took place from January 16 to January 19, 1990, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Columbia, Maryland, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, California.
In 2011, an effort was made to begin collecting the history of the council.
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