Operating Status Summer 2024:

TBD (The lab has yet to determine whether the internship will be fully on-site, remote, or a hybrid.)

Student Requirements:

Students must be solely U.S. citizens. (Permanent residents and dual citizens are not eligible.) Students must also be 18 years old or older at the time of application and have their own transportation to the site.

Mission

USNO’s mission is to determine the positions and motions of celestial bodies, motions of the Earth, and precise time; provide astronomical and timing data required by the Navy and other components of the Department of Defense for navigation, precise positioning, and command, control, and communications; make these data available to other government agencies and to the general public; and conduct relevant research, and perform such other functions as may be directed by higher authority.

About the Lab

Established in 1830, The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) is one of the oldest scientific organizations in the Federal Government. The observatory provides astronomical and timing data required by the Navy and other components of the Department of Defense for navigation, precise positioning, and command, control, and communications. USNO is one of the preeminent authorities in the world in astrometry, Earth rotation measurement, precise time, fundamental reference frames, and solar system dynamics. USNO is a small institution, with a total technical staff of about 60 in Washington. The technical staff is all civilian, with a high proportion of Ph.D.'s in astronomy and physics. Astronomical observations are carried out in Washington and remote facilities.