Pasadena High School junior Marcus Puckett is starting to fulfill his dreams of a career in aerospace engineering as he was recently selected by Congressman Mike Jackson to join the High School Aerospace Scholars program through the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC).

“I feel like I have accomplished a big goal,” Puckett said. “It is an honor to be selected by a congressman.”

Students from across Texas are selected to participate in the Aerospace Scholars program by their state legislator through a competitive process. To participate, students must be a U.S. citizen, Texas resident, currently in their junior year of high school, committed to a one-year relationship with JSC and access to the Internet.

Puckett said he is excited to be a part of this program. “I enjoy NASA and am interested in how the space program and exploration works,” he said. “I also would like to meet others that share the same interests. I thought it would be great to work at NASA alongside real engineers.”

The program is divided into two components. During the spring semester of their junior year, participating students are required to complete 10 online lessons and a final project. Assignments are due every six weeks via e-mail requiring students to read lessons online, take quizzes and submit the assignments, which consist of an essay, math problems and some require a graphic.

Assignments and the final project are graded by selected educators from across Texas and are graded on the completion of the lessons, quality of work and timeliness. Assignment topics include the Space Shuttle, space station, the moon and Mars.

This program will expose me to more advanced scientific topics than what my high school can offer,” said Puckett. “The physics required for some of the math questions is complex, but it helps me to understand how both subjects work together.”

After the assignments are completed and graded, students with the highest grades will be selected to attend the summer program. If selected, scholars will attend a six-day summer session at JSC, which will include a team project in Mars exploration, tours of JSC facilities, mentoring by NASA engineers, participation in hands-on engineering activities and briefings by astronauts, engineers and other NASA experts.

Puckett said he hopes to be selected into the summer program and to do so he will have to work hard.

“I will have to divide my time more responsibly and be more efficient with my management skills,” he said. “I hope to be accepted into the summer program because I will meet others that share my interests as well as learn a lot about the space program and the business world. I would like to see what kind of things real engineers do.”