(CNN) Landing an internship at NASA has been a dream come true for India Jackson, who balances her time between raising a preteen daughter and using advanced math to predict solar flares and radiation belts.

But the single mom wasn't sure whether she could afford to do it.

Jackson, 32, is working on her Ph.D in solar physics at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

"I'm kind of like a space weather girl," she said. "I will be using my mathematical background in order to try to predict solar flares and radiation belts."

Read More