Students prepare to launch a rocket. Photo from Northwest Indian College

Students at Northwest Indian College in Washington are excelling in the field of rocket science, attracting the attention of NASA in the process.

After the students started launching rockets on their own their professor jokingly came up with the name Northwest Indian College Space Center. But the program became a lot more serious after NASA called up and provided $5,000 a year for three years to help further their studies.

Now the students are competing in NASA challenges against schools with much bigger budgets. Their resourcefulness has helped them beat some of their colleagues.

YouTube: Northwest Indian College Space Center: First Scale Launch

“It comes down to sometimes, ‘Oh, do you have a paperclip, I need to put a paperclip in here to make sure this is secure,’” student Christian Cultee told KUOW. “And so, honestly, it’s just whatever you have that works, you need to use it.”

Students from Northwest and tribal colleges from across the nation will be competing in the First Nations Launch this weekend in Wisconsin.

Northwest Indian College is located on the Lummi Nation.

Get the Story:
Why NASA Called The Northwest Indian College Space Center (KUOW 5/1)