INDIGENOUS STUDENTS REACH FOR THE STARS

NISA Lead Monash Uni Professor Christopher Lawrence, ASA Head Enrico Palmero and NASA Administrator US Senator Bill Nelson pictured with school students at the NISA launch earlier this month. Credit: Supplied.

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) and NASA are giving First Nations students the opportunity to learn about outer space through the recently launched National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA).

Five Indigenous students studying will have the chance to travel to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for a 10-week course.

Whadjuk Noongar man and Monash University Associate Dean of IT Christopher Lawrence leads NISA.

He says the program gives students a range of strong professional experiences. 

“Having NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory on their C.V is one of the benefits of doing it,” he said.

“One of the benefits is being exposed to that type of space exploration and working on real-life space programs.

“The students that we sent in 2019 worked on the Mars 2020 Rover.”