Space may be “the final frontier,” but for Rio Rancho High School senior-to-be Andrew Arndt, it’s his next frontier.

He’s eyeing a career in the aerospace industry — and nabbing a spot as an intern at the Johnson Space Center in Houston this summer is his next step on that odyssey. He left last Sunday, will earn about $3,000 this summer, and return to Rio Rancho Aug. 7.

Arndt is one of just 100 high school students nationwide who’ll be participating in NASA’s INSPIRE program, an acronym for Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research and Education Experience (an extra ‘E,’ it seems), which is designed to encourage high school students to pursue education and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

Courtesy Photo Rio Rancho High School student Andrew Arndt has started an internship at the Johnson Space Center.

And that fits Arndt to a T.

“(The opportunity) started off in December. I was given the opportunity to be part of an online community for NASA; NASA and students across nation were able to talk about what’s going with NASA. There were activities we could do to find out more about NASA — a big nerd community, basically,” Arndt said.

He said he saw a posting that read “who’d like to be part of our STEM program?”

“Hundreds wanted to go,” he said. “We’d be working as a group of people at a national facility as interns.”

Arndt said he had to write essays, solicit two letters of recommendation and provide an official transcript to earn the opportunity.

“They slowly picked us off one by one, who they liked, with about 200 students left, then started phone interviews.”

Arndt, a member of RRHS’s state championship lacrosse team, assembled a project for the school’s research EXPO in which he built a “shock absorber for a rocket.”

With the help of Engineering & Design Academy head Paul Stephenson, Arndt learned about the problems NASA was having with its Aries 1 rocket, which will send four astronauts back to the moon sometime in the next 12 years. Those problems, the two learned, concerned excessive vibrations that threatened to shake the vehicle apart.

So Arndt designed a shock absorber, “to take any oscillation that occurs,” he said. “I received honorable mention.”

His interest in space isn’t a passing fad, he said.

“As a younger boy I’d always found space interesting,” he said, happy to watch the movie “October Sky” whenever he can, and currently reading the book.

“For the longest time I wanted to be an actual astronaut. As time went on, I began to think getting into space is harder than building a rocket. Every boy’s dream is having something big; I like math and I like building things, so being an engineer wouldn’t be too bad.

“I’m going to be an aerospace engineer someday,” he said. “This is a chance for me to really look into the field I’m interested in before I get there.”

Arndt said he’d be interning at the Johnson Space Center June 14 to Aug. 7, putting in 40 hours per week.

He is planning to attend the University of Alabama to pursue aerospace engineering after he graduates next May. And, yes, he happily noted, “They have a lacrosse team.”

Ten years from now, Arndt said, “I see myself working for NASA as a full-time employee with a master’s (degree), at least. I’m determined — that’s one reason I got this (NASA opportunity),” he said.

Stephenson doesn’t disagree.

“Andrew was, as a junior this year, the E&D Academy vice president. In that role he served as ambassador for our academy,” Stephenson said. “He is articulate, a great ambassador for the academy and … he’s been through our aerospace program. He has a strong passion for aerospace. … He’s just an amazing kid.”

Stephenson, proud to be using “21st century technology to communicate to our kids,” said he had about 150 students’ numbers “in my cell phone. I texted them about field trips, scholarships … (Arndt) got the message about the INSPIRE program. (Now) he’s one of 10. This is the first time ever a Rio Rancho student has been chosen — I would guess it’s the first time any New Mexico student has been selected for this program.

“He’ll be working with undergraduate university students and interns, plus NASA scientists, on real projects,” Stephenson explained. “It’s going to be a life-changing experience for him, for sure.”

All self-proclaimed nerds should be so lucky, eh?