The Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) program announced that Kieran Bronson-Doherty and Andrew Reece are graduates of the 2009 WAS Summer Residency at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. WAS is a competitive educational program for high school juniors from across Washington state. Bronson-Doherty and Reece were among the 150 students who qualified for the Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency program from 260 students who applied in November. To qualify for the residency program, Bronson-Doherty of Decatur High School and Reece of Aviation High School spent six months studying a NASA-designed, distance-learning curriculum via the Internet. Based on their academic performance on the distance-learning lessons, they were selected to attend one of the four residencies hosted at the museum this summer. During the residency experience, they collaborated with the other student participants on the design of a human mission to Mars. WAS scholars are guided by professional engineers, scientists, university students and certified educators as they plan these missions. The WAS program is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math, but the students are divided into teams which also require them to learn about mission management, budgets, the legal aspects of space exploration, and medicine. To learn more, visit www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars.