NASA employees understand. They get to do something involving space exploration every working day. For them, it is visceral.

The students who made the movie clip on the previous page understand, too; yet they are not like NASA employees in that they do not work in the space program everyday. Indeed, prior to their participation in the 2003 NASA Means Business Student Competition, none of them had ever had anything to do with space exploration. In fact, had you asked them, they would have told you that they had no interest in space at all! To them the possibility of ever having anything to do with space exploration was remote to the point of absurdity. Not that they did not respect the space program or value the contributions it has made; they did and do. But to them it felt distant and inaccessible. When they found out that they could not only work with NASA, but maybe even make a meaningful personal contribution to it, they responded with extraordinary creativity and energy.

Is this you?

We hope so, because those feelings you are experiencing as you contemplate competing in NASA Means Business are central to your ability to effectively and creatively communicate what NASA folks understand to people outside of NASA.