Keith's note: As most of you know by now, Charlie Bolden is relentless in his focus on the value of education.

What if you were inclined to create NASA's version of Starfleet Academy to prepare students for a career in space exploration. What would it do? What location(s) would be best? What age group(s) should it focus on? What courses would it teach? What skills would it emphasize?

I am not talking about recreating ISU. Rather, I am talking about something much broader and technically oriented - an education that actually equips students to be able to participate in all aspects of space exploration including hands-on experience with hardware, software, operations, design, and science.

What if students were to get out of the classroom and actually go on "away missions", take real risks, get dirty, make decisions in a real operational environment - both in the control room and in the field? What if students could also participate regardless of where they live?

Where should the academy begin? College? High school? Grammar school? Should the academy focus only upon training people to eventually work in space exploration or also focus on things relevant to other non-space fields?

Serious replies, please. If you have not registered, now is a good opportunity to do so.