The KidSat Project was sponsored by NASA in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), UC San Diego (UCSD), and the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY). The program enabled K-12 educators and students to participate in the space program. The records include organizational proposals, policies, and agendas, meeting minutes, hardware and software control documents and manuals, mission procedure manuals and reports.

KidSat began in 1995 as a collaborative three-year pilot project. It was funded by NASA and managed by the California Space Institute at UC San Diego, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, and the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Academic Advancement of Youth (IAAY). The purpose of the project was to revitalize the K-12 public school curriculum by providing K-12 students an opportunity to participate in shuttle missions. Middle School students through the School Mission Operation Centers (SMOC) were able to direct a camera onboard the shuttle through the use of computers linked to the internet and to Johnson Space Control in Houston, TX. Use of the camera required students to become familiar with navigational plotting, computers applications, and working in teams. As part of the project, a Mission Control Gateway Center was established on the first floor of the Chemistry Research Building near Thurgood Marshall College. UC San Diego student responsibilities included managing communication with Johnson Space Center and the SMOC sites, software monitoring, and overall team coordination. Sally Ride served as an advisor, overseeing the progress of several student teams.

2 Linear feet (5 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.