H.R.4755 Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act
“Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a plan for how NASA can best facilitate and support both current and retired astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, including early career female astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, to engage with K12 female STEM students and inspire the next generation of women to consider participating in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and to pursue careers in aerospace.”
Keith’s note: H.R 4755 passed the House today 380-3

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member 🖖🏻

8 replies on “Congress Pushes NASA To Do More Education and Public Outreach”

  1. This requires a fundamental understanding regarding human motivation, learning and psychology in general, something which seems to be lacking at all levels. And just throwing $$$ at it wont work.

    You can lead a horse to water, but…(old adages survive for a reason).

  2. Interesting-last I’d heard they cut NASA Education way back, cut funding, and gave education to the Smithsonian, Department of Education, and National Science Foundation (none of whom actually have education programs, but that was besides the point). NASA shut down a lot of education programs. A lot of NASA education people lost their jobs as a direct result. This Administration has caused a lot of needless problems for a lot of good people.

      1. They do not develop education products, particularly not space education products. Mainly the DoEd hands out grants to school districts.

  3. How about pushing NASA to develop better space technology i.e. Advanced Propulsion….so as to better explore space…yes actually get out there and do something….as opposed to lying to the American people about Mars in the next
    20 years…or the 20 after that, or after that …..

  4. Then don’t keep cutting the budget for the Office of Education and complaining if NASA employees attend a conference or set up exhibits. during the Sequestration, Public Outreach activities were suspended. Yeah, not spending a few million on Public Outreach really helped balance the Federal budget.

  5. There are several types of educational programs. Co-op programs for people who actually plan to work at NASA installations are the most productive, since they provide an opportunity for the student to be evaluated as a potential full time employee.

    Programs that simply provide information on the Internet can be useful and inexpensive but vary considerably in quality based on whether the site can be effectively and continuously maintained by people who actually know the subject.

    The controversy perhaps mainly applies to programs in which students are recruited and selected to come to NASA centers to have brief (up to a few weeks) courses that are intended to motivate and inspire them. Some may indeed join NASA but the percentage is much lower than for coops as there is usually no specific position that the program is created to fill. In many cases the program is small, just a few students, but requires a large percentage of the time of several contractors or CS employees.

    Programs of this type are created because someone thinks it’s a good idea. Then they expand because they demonstrate apparently exciting results. Then they become so manpower intensive that they are a drain on the budget and are cancelled. I have seen the cycle more than once.

  6. I’m all for outreach. As in: Out, reaching to the stars. If NASA does more of that kind of outreach, the other kind of outreach will take care of itself.

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