Dive Brief:
- The NASA Academic Mission Services five-year, $193 million contract will go to the Universities Space Research Association, which is made up of a team of universities and industry experts.
- Campus Technology reports the association will be tasked with working on solutions to major problems in the aeronautics, engineering, Earth science and space science fields, including questions about navigating unpiloted aircraft systems, air traffic management, synthetic biology, quantum computing and small spacecraft development.
- The California State University System, along with other university and business partners, will manage research and development programs in partnership with NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Dive Insight:
The Universities Space Research Association was founded in 1969 by a NASA administrator and the president of the National Academy of Sciences. The idea of the organization, from the beginning, was to create an infrastructure that would allow society to benefit from space research. Faculty and students from more than 350 universities contributed to USRA projects in 2015.
These types of partnerships offer important learning opportunities for students which set them up for career success after they finish their degree programs. Increasingly, colleges and universities have to think about long-term student outcomes in a nation preoccupied with higher ed’s return on investment.