Two Renton area, high school juniors will be participating in the Washington Aerospace Scholars Summer Residency program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Constance La, of Hazen High School, and Marco Cheng, of Liberty High, will get the opportunity to participate in the educational program designed to connect students with educational and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through independent learning, hands-on interaction, professional guidance and site-based tours, a museum release stated.

Cheng and La were among 160 students, who qualified for the summer program and 308 students who applied in November. To qualify for the residency program each student spent five months studying a University of Washington and NASA-designed online curriculum and have been selected based on their academic performance in these lessons.The students were able to earn five college credits for their work through a special partnership with the University of Washington.

During the residency experience students will collaborate to design a human mission to Mars with guidance from professional engineers, scientists, university students and certified educators. In addition to the design of the Mars mission, students will compete in hands-on engineering challenges, receive briefings from experts in aerospace and engineering fields, and participate in behind-the-scenes tours, including the Boeing Commercial Airplane assembly plant and the engineering laboratories at the University of Washington.

To date, the program is in its eighth year, with almost 2,000 students having participated in the online curriculum portion and more than 1,170 students in the summer residency program. For more information, call the Washington Aerospace Scholars at 206-764-5866.