Named to honor the African-American astronaut who perished with the Challenger mission, this TRIO program assists eligible low-income, first-generation students to prepare for and enter graduate programs leading to the Ph. D. Each year at UW-Eau Claire ten to twelve new undergraduate McNair Scholars embark upon two years of intensive mentoring, specialized curricular and co-curricular offerings, collaborative research, and paid internships, all of which groom these candidates for graduate school. ASTRA contains articles coauthored by McNair Scholars and their faculty mentors.