About Us

Member Registration - Informal education professionals are invited to apply for a free membership to the NASA Museum Alliance.  Not sure what "informal education professional" means?  Read more below and always feel free to email us with questions.  

The Museum Alliance was created to be the "front door" to NASA for the world of informal education.  Likewise, for NASA programs, the Alliance is the "front door" to access the world of informal education.  The Alliance is meant to be the starting point for all informal educators who are seeking free NASA educational resources and services.  On the other side, the Alliance is also the place where NASA experts can find a ready-made audience who can engage the worldwide public about their work, their information, and their educational products and services. 

We are a NASA-centric STEAM "community of practice," comprising of informal educators, staff, and leadership. This includes all informal educational organizations, namely, all those outside of the traditional K-12 school system, but also some inside; see a list of examples below.  We, of course, also include NASA staff and scientists.  "Informal education" is a constantly evolving field, and the Alliance is here to evolve with it and provide much needed resources to engage and inspire your informal audiences, whatever that means to you.  NASA has a great library of funded curriculum and activities, multimedia, planetarium shows, professional development, marketing, and networking platforms, and the Alliance can help you navigate, find, or even create exactly what you need to help you.  If your organization is already a member, it makes signing up for your own account even easier.  If not, we'd love to add you to our network.  

In addition, we also offer informal educators direct access to NASA experts, to answer all of your STEAM education questions and help you in any way we can.  We continue to host hundreds of different live teleconferences and resources, all recorded and archived, on a variety of topics, geared specifically towards informal education.  Topics include hard science, exhibits, planetarium shows, hands-on workshops, and out of school programs.  

Finally, we act as liasons between, and advocates for, our members to NASA leadership, telling them what resources our members use and need the most.  So, get your voice heard on what NASA can do to help you further engage and grow your STEAM education audiences.  Join the Alliance!

Over 1,600 Alliance members include, but are not limited to, representatives from the following types of organizations, in no particular order:

• 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 Scouts/Clubs, 4-H)
• aquariums
• arboretums
• aviaries
• 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.

Don't see yourself in this list?  No worries.  Anyone is welcome to email us if you're looking for NASA resources, or if you have further questions:  Jeffrey.Nee@jpl.nasa.gov

You can also use our public resources, e.g. our public conversations, our eclipse posting, find Museum Alliance member events near you, or view our public Museum Alliance calendar for NASA-related events, opportunities and anniversaries.

In addition, NASA has Museum Alliance analogues for essentially all other types of educators, including,

• NEON for professional teachers
• the Night Sky Network for amateur astronomers
• Earth to Sky for national parks, and
• the Solar System Ambassadors for education volunteers.  

For more information, please review the Museum Alliance FAQ.  

The Museum Alliance was developed, and is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).