The Many Routes to a NASA Internship

From left to right, NASA SARP Interns Dennie Truong and Nathan Tesfayi exit the NASA Langley Hangar to board the NASA B200 aircraft for their first atmospheric test flights of the summer. Both interns wear brown flight suits and smile with the large hangar and bright blue sky in the background. Credit: NASA/Angelique Herring

 

Looking to start your career at NASA as an intern but don’t know where to begin? NASA offers multiple paths to become a NASA intern, and many of them have unique opportunities and are  available to different types of students. We’ve put together this handy breakdown to help you get started with your application.

NASA OSTEM Internships

Alt Text: Two female interns wearing blue NASA flight suits stand smiling with their hands behind their backs. Behind them, a large multirotor aircraft sits idle on the runway. The distance clear blue sky makes up the top of the image. Credit: NASA/Angelique Herring
Alt Text: Two female interns wearing blue NASA flight suits stand smiling with their hands behind their backs. Behind them, a large multirotor aircraft sits idle on the runway. The distance clear blue sky makes up the top of the image. Credit: NASA/Angelique Herring

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) paid internships allow both high school and college-level students to contribute to agency projects under the guidance of a NASA mentor. With roles in nearly every mission at every center across the United States, these positions are the most popular and numerous of NASA’s internships.

NASA JPL Internships

Former NASA JPL intern and current NASA astronaut Jessia Watkins poses in the control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Smiling and wearing her iconic blue astronaut flight suit a large projection of the Earth is seen in the background among computer screens. Credit: Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Former NASA JPL intern and current NASA astronaut Jessia Watkins poses in the control room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Watkins smiles and wears her iconic blue astronaut flight suit. A large projection of the Earth is seen in the background among computer screens. Credit: Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s internships put you right in the action with the scientists and engineers who’ve helped make JPL the leading center for robotic exploration of the solar system. With programs as varied as the places we explore, this internship offers opportunities across the STEM spectrum for undergrads, graduate students, post doctorate students, and faculty at NASA JPL in Pasadena, California.

NASA Pathways Internships

Former NASA intern Naia Butler-Craig works to assemble a CubeSat in her laboratory. Wearing clean room attire she pays close attention to different cabling while assembling the small cube shaped satellite. Credit: NASA/ Bridget Caswell
Former NASA intern Naia Butler-Craig works to assemble a CubeSat in her laboratory. Wearing cleanroom attire she pays close attention to different cabling while assembling the small cube-shaped satellite. Credit: NASA/ Bridget Caswell

The Pathways Internship Program was established to build out the future of the federal workforce. Specializing in multi-semester experiences, the Pathways Internship Program prepares you for a career at NASA and offers a direct pipeline to full-time employment at NASA upon graduation.

These highly competitive roles allow interns the opportunity to kickstart their career by transitioning their internship into a full-time role as a government employee after meeting the program’s requirements.

NASA Fellowships

Former NASA intern and current NASA technologist Nithin Abraham uses sterile gloves in a clean container environment study a simple sample in NASA’s Goddard Space Center’s laboratory. Wearing professional attire, she looks in focused while using a small tweezer like tool to interact with small science components. Credit: NASA/Pat Izzo
Former NASA intern and current NASA technologist Nithin Abraham uses sterile gloves in a clean container environment to study a simple sample in NASA’s Goddard Space Center’s laboratory. Wearing professional attire, she looks focused while using a small tweezer-like tool to interact with small science components. Credit: NASA/Pat Izzo

NASA Fellowships allow graduate-level students to pursue research projects in response to the agency’s current research priorities. Fellowship opportunities are focused on innovation and generate measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals—these prestigious positions enhance graduate learning and development.

NASA SkillBridge Internships

Former U.S. Air Force Colonel select, and current NASA astronaut Raja Chari poses beside a NASA science aircraft on the runway. Wearing his iconic blue astronaut flight suit an American flag patch stands in sharp contrast on his left shoulder. In the background there are clear blue skies. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Former U.S. Air Force Colonel select, and current NASA astronaut Raja Chari poses beside a NASA science aircraft on the runway. Wearing his iconic blue astronaut flight suit an American flag patch is seen on his left shoulder. In the background there are clear blue skies. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Across the agency, veterans deliver subject matter expertise, years of on-the-job training, and advanced skills in everything from information technology to transportation logistics and from supply-chain management to public relations. Our SkillBridge program with the Department of Defense helps to transition veterans into NASA internships that they can later use to springboard to a full-time NASA position.

To search for SkillBridge roles, follow this link and search “NASA” in the keywords box.

NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS)

A group of NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars sit in the control room at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. Each of the scholars are at computer working a live simulation of a mission control. The diverse group of interns wear business casual attire. Credit: NASA
A group of NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars sits in the control room at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. Each of the scholars is at a computer working on a live simulation of mission control. The diverse group of interns wear business casual attire. Credit: NASA

NASA offers the Community College Aerospace Scholars program for community college students to get hands-on preparation for a NASA internship. Although not an internship program itself, students participating in an NCAS activity can expect to advance their capabilities in STEM, helping to prepare them for better representation and service in STEM fields. NCAS has three missions designed to challenge and build student knowledge and skills by focusing on NASA’s mission goals, collaboration, and career pathways.

International Internships

Three international NASA interns from the United Arab Emirates pose together outside of the large Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, located at the NASA Ames Research Center. Wearing business casual attire, the trio smile in front of the massive white building housing the wind tunnel. Credit: NASA / Eric James
Three international NASA interns from the United Arab Emirates pose together outside of the large Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, located at the NASA Ames Research Center. Wearing business casual attire, the trio smiles in front of the massive white building housing the wind tunnel. Credit: NASA / Eric James

NASA seeks to better prepare all students to work in a global environment and on multicultural, international missions. NASA offers international internships through collaborations with our international partners. These roles offer work experience comparable to traditional NASA internships and align with NASA’s three annual internship sessions.

Do you have a question about NASA’s internships that wasn’t answered here? Send us an email and we’ll do our best to answer your question.