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The NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Advanced Life Support (ALS/NSCORT) Education and Outreach Program is designed to engage audiences through concepts and technologies highlighted in the NSCORT research program. The outreach program is composed of three thrust areas. These areas are technical outreach (graduate education, technology transfer, presentations to industry, etc.), educational outreach (professional development, undergraduate, K-12), and public outreach (museums, state fairs, etc.) Program design of the technical and educational outreach began in January 2003. This paper reports anecdotal data on one ALS/NSCORT outreach program and gives a brief description of the other programs in their pilot stages. Technical and educational outreach programs developed to date include: 1) Summer Fellowship Research Program, 2) Distance Learning Course, 3) Key Learning Community Collaborative Project and 4) Mission to Mars.

The ALS/NSCORT Education and Outreach provides an avenue to engage and educate higher education students and K-12 educators/students in the center's investigations of the synergistic concepts and principles required for regenerative life-support in extended-duration space exploration. The following K-12 Education programs will be addressed: 1) Key Learning Community Project provides exposure, mentoring and research opportunities for 9-12th grade students at Key Learning Community This program was expanded in 2004 to include an “Explore Mars” 3-day camp experience for 150 Key students. The overall goal of the collaborative project is to motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering; 2) Mission to Mars Program introduces 5th-8th grade students to the complex issues involved with living on Mars, stressing the interdisciplinary fundamentals of science, technology and engineering that underlie Advanced Life Support research.