Home
nasa
SARP 2025 Closeout

SARP 2025 Closeout

editornasa6 hours ago4 Views

2 min read

Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

Two students with headphones stand in the back of a cockpit, watching three pilots in flight suits fly the plane.

SARP students peer into the cockpit onboard NASA’s P-3 aircraft, during research flights for the 2025 Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) internship.

NASA/Milan Loiacono

In August 2025, 47 students from NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) culminated a summer of science by presenting their research to an audience of mentors, professors, family, friends, and NASA personnel.

SARP is a summer internship for undergraduate students, hosted in two cohorts: this year SARP West operated out of Guardian Jet Center and University of California, Irvine in Southern California, while SARP East operated out of Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia Commonwealth University in Virginia.

SARP randomly assigns students into one of four research disciplines, to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and give them the opportunity to work outside of their usual field. Each discipline is led by a faculty researcher who is an expert in their field, and supported by a graduate mentor. This year, SARP research topics spanned three spheres: atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere, covered between the two cohorts.

The beauty of Earth science lies in its interconnectedness. As a student who primarily researches atmospheric science, stepping out of my comfort zone to explore something new was truly eye-opening, and I am incredibly grateful for the experience.

Nimay mahajan

2025 SARP West student

Over the course of two months, students learned more about NASA’s Airborne Science Program and Earth Science through lectures led by SARP faculty and guest speakers from NASA and the Earth science community, engaged in Earth science data collection while flying onboard Dynamic Aviation’s B-200 and NASA’s P-3 aircraft, and participated in field trips to perform ground sampling fieldwork. Students also visited NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, and NASA Headquarters. The program also includes other enriching opportunities such as visiting the University of California San Diego’s WAVElab and Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Rivers Center.

Students were also provided the opportunity to attend introductory programming sessions and receive hands-on support from a coding mentor to develop and strengthen their experience with code, and incorporate code in their research project.

SARP really made me realize that science is bigger than all of us, but it needs every one of us – even those just stepping into the scientific world – to contribute. Every effort, no matter how big or small, is a step forward in a mission greater than any one individual.

TJ Ochoa Peterson

2025 SARP East student

To watch videos of these student’s presentations, read their research abstracts, or see more photos from the summer, please follow the links below.

2025 SARP East Research Presentations

A group of students and faculty in gray shirts stand on dark gray tarmac in front of a large white plane with a blue stripe down the middle.

The 2025 SARP East Aerosols Group poses in front of the Dynamic Aviation B-200 aircraft, parked in a hangar at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virgina. During the internship, students spend a week engaged in Earth science data collection and learning from instruments specialists while flying onboard both the B-200 and NASA’s P-3 aircraft.

NASA/Milan Loiacono