Internships
Are you a college or graduate student interested in gaining work experience? We offer paid internships in a wide array of disciplines.
You'll learn from knowledgeable mentors in a variety of fields, from curatorial research to administration, all in the dynamic atmosphere of Washington, DC. You'll work with distinguished scholars, accomplished professionals, and iconic artifacts in an immersive experience as multifaceted as the Museum itself.
Our interns are required to be high school graduates and must be enrolled in, or recently graduated from, a degree-granting undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university.
Summer Internships
Our structured summer internship program provides firsthand experience working in a museum. It's a great introduction to museum work or an opportunity to expand on previous experience. Our 10-week program provides unique professional development opportunities and enrichment activities.
Fast Facts
- Length: 10 weeks
- Full time
- Paid, $8,000 stipend
- All internships are onsite at one of our Museum locations
- Email us with questions
Opportunities Include
Conduct research at National Archives (College Park site), Library of Congress, and National Air and Space Museum archives to locate and digitize assets for presentation in digital and mechanical interactives to be deployed in the World War II, and Modern Military Aviation galleries, and in support of the United States' 250th commemorations.
The intern will have the opportunity to participate in weekly design meetings associated with the development of over 10,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space as part of one of the nation’s largest exhibition development projects.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, with two to three days per week offsite at archives
The Advancement Intern will primarily work in coordination with major gift officers and other staff to complete prospect research in advance of donor meetings and visits, assisting with determining capacity, previous giving history, and philanthropic interests. They will maintain updated information in the pan-institutional database. Additionally, the Advancement Intern may contribute to writing tasks (proposals, reports), event coordination, and administrative support.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Currently, only about 25% of the Museum Archives collections have a collection record available to the public in the Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives (SOVA). In order to more effectively fulfill our mission to make the Archives collections as widely accessible as possible, and to more accurately represent the breadth of our holdings to researchers, it will greatly benefit the Archives to increase this percentage.
Working from a predetermined list of collections, the intern will review the physical collection, revise and expand the existing collection descriptions as needed, and create finding aids using ArchivesSpace software that will be made available to the public in SOVA. The intern will also have the opportunity to perform basic rehousing and processing tasks as needed, in consultation with the supervisor. At the end of the summer, the intern will have a portfolio of collection records on SOVA that could be shared with professors as part of their course credit requirement, or as part of a job application.
Location: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Identify a range of geologic structures across Jupiter’s moon Europa to compare with modeling outputs to determine their formation mechanisms.
- Learn ArcGIS pro software, the industry standard in mapping and spatial analysis.
- Learn about ocean worlds and their potential for habitability.
- Create a deeper understanding of geology, geological structures, and geologic mapping.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Mars contains hundreds of glacier deposits inside impact craters. The internal structure of these ice deposits should hold critical information about their depositional history and, by extension, the climate variability of Mars over the last few hundred million years. However, the internal structure of these crater glacial deposits has never been systematically studied. This project will use radar sounder data from the SHARAD instrument onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to search for evidence of radar reflectors in concentric crater fill (CCF) glacier deposits.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Identify and map geologic structures that may have been modified by preexisting tectonic fabrics on Titan and Earth analogs. This project may also include assessing observed features and comparing observations with model outputs.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The intern will work with the Museum’s Office of Communications on a variety of projects related to social media, press, marketing, and digital communications. Key projects will include communications and content related to the Museum’s 50th anniversary and the opening of seven new galleries.
The intern will work closely with the social media and digital content teams to develop compelling content to promote the Museum and share the Museum’s collection and expertise with an ever-expanding digital audience. Based on the intern’s individual interests or strengths, the intern will have the opportunity to craft long-form written content (blog posts), written social media content (X, Instagram, Facebook), and social video (Instagram Reels, YouTube).
The intern will also work with the larger Communications team on marketing museum programs, media and press relations, and filming projects.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The intern will work with the Museum’s marketing and tourism specialist to promote both of the Museum’s locations and its programs to the general public, the tourism/hospitality industry, and other niche verticals. The intern will also work with others in the communications team to promote/execute activities related to the Museum’s 50th anniversary and the United States' 250th.
Activities will vary and may include assisting with the development of marketing plans and advertising copy; data analysis; participating in familiarization tours for the tourism industry and travel media; staffing photo/filming shoots; sharing information on events and activities; staffing booths/tables at events/trade shows; attending internal and external meetings; staffing 50th/250th anniversary events; and collaborating with other unit interns on the annual Intern Takeover Day.
Location: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Under the supervision and training of the Adult Learning and Digital Content Program Specialist, the Public Programs Intern will assist in the administration, coordination, development, and implementation of public programs at the National Air and Space Museum, including the Museum's mission-driven lectures (Exploring Space lecture, Glenn lecture, and Aviation Adventures lectures), Solstice Saturday, Innovations in Flight, Sally’s Night, among other digital and on-site educational programming.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
AirSpace is the satellite brand of the National Air and Space Museum that explores aviation and space through storytelling related to culture, arts, and entertainment. Anchored by the AirSpace podcast, the program also features events and a newsletter.
By assisting and supporting the research, production, and promotion of digital content, including the AirSpace podcast and newsletter, the intern will learn skills and trends in podcasting and adult/digital museum education. The intern will also learn about the planning and implementation of small- to large-scale museum events and public programs by assisting museum educators with events such as expert lectures, Solstice Saturday, Sally’s Night, Innovations in Flight, and others.
We welcome applicants from any major/area of study. Specific technical skills (e.g., audio editing) are not required. Interested applicants should demonstrate experience or strong interest in podcasting/audio production, digital marketing, live event production, and/or education (especially using digital tools).
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Schedule Note: This internship requires availability to assist with occasional evening and weekend events outside the typical workday (3-5 of these events are planned for Summer 2026).
The intern will learn about astronomy education and communicating science to the public by helping to research, create, and facilitate programs for Museum visitors. As part of this project, the intern will:
- Work as part of a team to help research, develop, and/or revise astronomy activities and resources which reflect educational best practices and meet the needs of participants from many different backgrounds, both onsite and virtually.
- Help train volunteers and staff to have engaging and effective conversations about science and history with participants, both onsite and virtually.
- Learn about and assist on other projects as interested and necessary, including helping develop astronomy and spaceflight exhibitions, astronomy and spaceflight media experiences, and other Education projects.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Get ready to take flight with an Education internship at the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA. Aviation Explorers interns learn the basics of aviation, museum education, and even get to go on their own discovery flight in a Cessna 172 aircraft!
These five intern positions will help the Museum to educate and inspire students around aviation topics and deepen engagement through two sessions of the Aviation Explorers Camp. Interns act as mentor, teacher, and camp counselor to inspire the next generation of STEM stars!
Interns will assist Smithsonian staff with research, development, evaluation, and implementation of education activities for summer STEM camps and school-year programming taking place in the DC region. Topics include rocketry, aviation, game design, history, electronics, space, and art.
Location: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA
Research, develop, design and produce digital media for the education department. This will include pieces for the “On Air” series as well as stand alone segments that benefit additional programs in the education department such as family days, story time, etc. The intern will also provide technical support for any in situ programming, participate in any filming or video related projects.
Our goal is to match students' skills and objectives with Smithsonian programs that can mutually accommodate goals. Student efforts will directly impact the quality of media production, working side-by-side with employees to create and deliver programs, services and experiences for museum visitors in person and online. Typical assignments may include planning, scheduling, researching, video production, and graphic composition. Interns will feel empowered to recommend improvements in workflow, processes to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness in meeting goals and objectives.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The Museum is currently in the process of developing a suite of new informal programs for an early childhood and family audience. This internship will be primarily interacting with the Early Learning Discovery Stations and other early childhood programs.
Facilitated, hands-on learning experiences are the most effective way to engage our youngest learners with air and space topics during a museum visit. These Discovery Stations will be designed for learners aged 3-8 and provide a pathway to tap their innate curiosity while also leveraging a universal learning strategy – the engineering design process.
Three of five total stations are out on the floor at this current time with the final two stations to be rolled out during 2026. The intern will support the facilitation of all of the early childhood programming, including story time and the hands-on discovery stations. The intern will have the opportunity to develop, prototype, and test activities for the two new discovery stations.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The National Air and Space Museum is set to complete a monumental multi-year transformation culminating in the opening of new galleries in the summer of 2026. Transforming every visitor's experience, the Museum will engage visitors through new presentation spaces, digital interactives, and dynamic gallery experiences.
This internship will support the design, development, and testing of new in-gallery interactives, both digital and mechanical. Tasks and projects include:
Support digital media development across multiple galleries – this includes all digital elements inside a gallery (games, touchscreens, projections, digital kiosks). Intern will join gallery meetings, assist with content creation, asset research, and testing/evaluation with target audiences.
Learn how to approach and build a visitor testing and evaluation program for exhibits from start to finish – including developing testing tools (surveys, forms), creating effective testing goals, gathering and organizing visitor feedback, and gleaning important insights and tangible outcomes from data.
Assist with other exhibits media, education, and audience engagement tasks including – supporting education public programming, cultivating a digital strategy for online audiences, managing outreach and communication related to digital exhibits media, and other project management tasks.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The Museum is currently in the process of developing a suite of new informal programs for an early childhood and family audience. This internship will be primarily focused on supporting the Gallery Explorers program.
Gallery Explorers is a brand-new program developed for families with children aged 6-13 where families learn more about the galleries through facilitation and hands on interactions. Additionally, family focused self-guides are in development which cover similar themes to the Gallery Explorers programs.
The intern will support the facilitation of the Gallery Explorers program on the floor as well as prototyping new themes for the program. The intern will support the training and approvals of new program facilitators. They will also have the opportunity to develop and prototype self-guided extension activities for families to use related to the Gallery Explorers themes.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Intern with help the Museum’s Gallery Programs Team to reopen our hands-on gallery, How Things Fly, in 2026. This gallery includes a variety of informal learning opportunities, including design challenges, presentations, discovery stations, and digital content.
These learning opportunities are supported by the Museum’s student educators, the Explainers. Explainers are high school and college students who work to bring museum content to our visitors through hands-on programs and interactive STEM lessons.
The How Things Fly gallery has been closed since 2022 and Explainer programming covering this content has been on pause. The summer of 2026 will be committed to renewing programming related to How Things Fly, including training the Explainers and auditing legacy programs for accuracy and efficacy.
The intern will support the research, development, prototyping, and evaluation of these programs and training for the Explainers Corps. They will run programming with visitors as a means of mentoring and modelling for Explainers. They will help in the reintroduction of our website’s “Ask an Explainer” page. Intern will work closely Explainers and volunteers and will participate in a variety of departmental programs throughout the summer including special events, reserved programs, and family days.
Location: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, with regular required work at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
The National Air and Space Museum’s Education department maintains a teaching collection of more than 750 artifacts from sources as diverse as NASA to master kite makers. These objects can be used for educational purposes. They require less care than a “traditional” artifact but a higher level of care than other teaching objects.
In 2025, an intern project fully inventoried and cataloged these objects. In doing so, the Museum determined that one of the primary obstacles to accessing the collection was the lack of useful object descriptions. The summer 2026 intern will research objects in the teaching collection, write descriptive narratives, and generate ideas on how the objects could be used in educational settings.
Additionally, they will contribute to the development of lending procedures for users both in the Museum or external to it, conduct condition assessments to recommend different lending classifications for objects, and assist in the development of replicas as needed, all with the goal of expanding who can access these artifacts.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
This position is to work within the Exhibits Design department, which is in the middle of creating seven new exhibitions.
The intern will assist designers of the department with scanning three dimensional artifacts and post processing them. They will also help manage building and exhibit models and create renderings.
This is a great opportunity to learn about how a large museum creates exhibitions and to assist the Design department during the final stages of opening.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
This position is to work within the Exhibits Design department, which is transforming all of the Museum’s exhibitions.
The intern will assist members of the department, designers and writer with organizing scripts, checking graphic files, and entering information into the database.
This is a great opportunity to learn about how a large museum creates exhibitions through managing the different elements of designs, scripts, and graphics.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
This internship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to the opening of three major galleries and to participate in celebrations marking two historic milestones: the National Air and Space Museum ’s 50th anniversary and the United States' 250th. In summer 2026, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum will unveil several new galleries. Three of the galleries opening in 2026 are:
- RTX Living in the Space Age Hall
- U.S. National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe
- At Home in Space
This intern will assist the curatorial teams in coordinating the gallery openings, and related activities throughout the summer with a wide range of contacts.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Intern will assist the Visitor Services Department in expanding the Sighted Guide Program at the National Air and Space Museum. Sighted guides are reserved for guests with blindness or low vision.
The Museum is preparing to roll out the program for all volunteers to be trained and capable of giving a sighted guide experience to any individual who requests one. Sighted guides require visual descriptions and facts or other information about the exhibits or artifacts.
The intern will be responsible for writing up, editing, and standardizing written visual descriptions for key museum artifacts.
Tactile models and objects are a key component of the experience. The intern will have access to 3D printers to help design or create models for use by the Museum, as well as creating a system for suggestions, requests, inventory, and repairs. With these descriptions and tactiles, the intern will develop a rubric for two to four themes a volunteer could give a sighted guide on.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
The Museum's Volunteer Enrichment Program aims to enhance the engagement, satisfaction, and retention of volunteers through a structured enrichment program. For this project, the intern will work with the Visitor Services team to gather insights into the interests, motivations, and needs of current volunteers through available feedback channels and informal conversations.
Create a variety of enrichment activities, including educational workshops, social events, and behind-the-scenes tours. Collaborate with Museum staff to ensure activities align with Museum goals. Compile a detailed report with actionable recommendations for future enhancements.
Location: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Frequently Asked Questions About Summer Internships
All summer internships will be 100% on site at either our Museum in Washington, DC or Chantilly, VA.
The Summer Internship Program typically runs from early-June to early-August each year. In 2026, it will be the first week of June through first week of August.
Interns work full-time, 40 hours per week for 10 weeks.
We are happy to work with you to figure out a start and end date that work with your existing commitments and school schedule. However, a commitment of 10 weeks during the summer is required.
Yes, we provide a stipend to help interns defray expenses. This stipend is administered in intervals throughout the internship period.
To be considered for the Summer Internship Program, you must be a high school graduate and be currently enrolled in, or recently graduated from, a degree-granting undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university. You are expected to have a strong academic record. Applicants from outside the US are welcome!
Internships are opportunities to learn and grow your skills. While you don't necessarily need work experience related to the internship you plan to apply for, you are expected to have a base knowledge of or familiarity with the subject (e.g. exhibits design interns will be expected to have familiarity with programs such as Illustrator and Photoshop).
Academic Year Internships
During the academic year, select internships are offered for interns to support key museum functions. Unlike the summer internships, many of these intern opportunities are part time, to allow for the intern to attend school. Interns will work closely with museum staff & departments on ongoing projects, for which we recruit as they become available. Keep any eye on this site for new opportunities throughout the academic year.
Fast Facts
- Length: 8-12 weeks
- Full time or part time
- Paid
- All internships are onsite at one of our Museum locations
- Email us with questions
No current openings, check back for more.
How to Apply for an Internship
These instructions apply to summer and academic year internships.
Applicants must apply through the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System (SOLAA). Complete applications must include:
- Resume
- A statement of purpose (500-1,000 words) indicating the type of internship you are interested in and how an internship will contribute to your education and career goals
- Unofficial transcript
- Two letters of recommendation
Using SOLAA
Applications for the National Air and Space Museum’s Summer Internship Program must be submitted on the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment system (SOLAA). To apply:
- Create an account at https://solaa.si.edu
- Add a new application
- Select “National Air and Space Museum” under Office/Museum/Research Center.
- Fill out the application and submit. You can find tips about the different aspects of the application below.
Program Choices Page of Application
- Be sure to submit your application under the current year.
- The official dates of the Summer Internship Program can be found on our website. If you are not available for those dates, please propose another 10 week period.
- The Project Choices section of this page will determine who reviews your application. You may select up to three projects, but do not need to choose all three if you are only interested in one or two. You can find the list of this year’s projects on our website.
Application Materials
On the Materials page of the application, please submit your essay, resume, transcript, and letters of recommendation (if you have a copy of the letter(s)).
Letters of Recommendation
If you have a copy of your Letters of Recommendation, you can upload them to your application using the Materials page. If you do not, you can use the References page of the application to send your letter-writer an email they can use to upload the letter of recommendation directly to your application. To do so:
- Click “Add New Reference Details”
- Enter their name and email address and click save
- Click the envelope icon under “Email Referee” to have SOLAA send an email to your referee
- Confirm with the person writing your letter of recommendation that they received the email and were able to upload the letter.
- You are able to submit the application before all letters are received, so if you complete the application before your referees submit their letters, you can go ahead and submit if you would like.
Reference Page of Application
If you are not using the Reference page to collect letters of recommendation, you do not need to add any references on the Reference page.
Technical Difficulties
If you encounter technical difficulties as you complete your application, we recommend trying a new browser. If the problem persists, please email OCIOHelpDesk@si.edu.
The internship program is generously supported by:
Foster and Coco Stanback
DaRin Butz Foundation
Morton and Norma Lee Funger, in memory of William Scott Funger
James M. and Anita K. Guyette
The Brian and Jill Rowe Foundation
Thomas W. Haas Foundation
Joseph R. and JoAnne L. Zinecker
Mary F. Dominiak
Karen and William Dahut