Stephanie Yazzie, Northern Arizona University student and NAU Space Jacks team member, poses with her team’s rocket in this photo from the 2019 NASA First Nations Launch (FNL) competition.
In this competition, students from Tribal Colleges and Universities, Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions, and schools with American Indian Science and Engineering Society chapters demonstrated their engineering and design skills.
FNL 2022, an Artemis Student Challenge, called for faculty advisor-led teams of undergraduate students to conceive, design, fabricate, and fly dual deploy high-power rockets within three challenges with various technical requirements. Winners were chosen by a pool of Native American NASA and industry judges for the competition also included four FNL alumni who completed their STEM degrees and became engineers in the aerospace field.
Explore more Minority University Research and Education Project opportunities and resources here.
We’re celebrating Native American Heritage Month, highlighting the achievements of Native Americans at NASA, and bolstering the next generation of talent.
Image credit: Carthage College/Christine Bolz