Matthew Stepita, a Friday Harbor High School junior, has been selected as a Washington Aerospace Scholar for 2013-2014.

Washington Aerospace Scholars, part of the NASA National High School Aerospace Scholars program, was founded in 2006 by five-time NASA shuttle astronaut Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar. The primary goal of the program is to prepare students to pursue a career in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

Matt’s goal is to become an aerospace engineer.

Matt is completing Phase I of the WAS program – a distance-learning curriculum in space and space travel designed in partnership with NASA.  Each space-related lesson has comprehension, mathematics and graphics components, and requires 10-12 hours to complete. Students explore topics such as history of human spaceflight and future exploration of the universe. Matthew will earn college credit from the University of Washington.

Phase II is a summer residency in which students work with professional engineers to design a human mission to Mars. Students will also tour aerospace corporations, visit university research labs and take a behind-the-scenes tour of The Museum of Flight’s NASA shuttle simulator.

The WAS program is made possible by support from the Museum of Flight, Boeing Company, Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, GenCorp Foundation, and individual donors.