About Us
Register as an Educator here for a free account in NASA's CONNECTS system, the new home of the NASA's Museum & Informal Education Alliance. (Please use your professional email address on your application, not your personal one.) Read more below and always feel free to email us with questions or issues you may encounter.
The Alliance is the "front door" for informal educators seeking free NASA educational resources and services. It is also where NASA experts can find a ready-made audience who can engage the public worldwide.
Designed to save you time by helping you find what you need to teach your audiences about NASA-centric STEAM topics, we help informal educators navigate the halls of 65+ years of NASA content from across all 10+ NASA centers in almost any topic to create exhibits, classroom offerings, public programs, planetarium showes, and much more.
We also offer direct access to NASA experts to simply answer your questions and keep you and your staff updated on the latest at NASA. We have hosted more than 800 live teleconferences/webinars on a variety of topics, all recorded and archived, geared specifically towards informal education.
Finally, we act as liaisons between, and advocates for, our members to NASA leadership. Let us know what NASA can do to help you further engage and grow your audiences! "Informal education" is a constantly evolving field, and the Alliance evolves with it, providing resources to better engage and inspire your informal audiences, whatever that means to you. Join CONNECTS!
Our 2,000+ Alliance members include staff and educators representing a wide range of organizations, such as
- federal and non-federal NASA Visitor Centers and affiliates
- air and space centers
- aviation museums
- children’s museums
- natural history museums
- observatories
- planetariums
- science and technology centers
- libraries
- out-of-school-time organizations (e.g. after school programs, summer camps)
- youth-serving organizations (e.g. YMCAs, YWCAs, Boys and Girls Clubs, Scouts, 4-H)
- aquariums
- arboretums
- zoos
- botanical gardens
- nature centers
- national, state, and local parks
- Challenger Learning Centers, and other "learning centers"
- education labs for students and/or teachers
- theaters and auditoriums for astronomical shows
- scientific and engineering societies
- art and historical museums
You may also be interested in:
- NASA Express email list for K-12 and other teachers
- NASA Aeronautics STEM monthly newsletter
- JPL Educator Resources for curriculum and activities
- STAR Net Clearinghouse targeting libraries with STEM activities
- The Night Sky Network for amateur astronomers
- Earth to Sky for outdoor educators
- The Solar System Ambassadors for education volunteers
The Museum & Informal Education Alliance was developed, and is managed, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Education Office, at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).