Time is running out for secondary pupils in Dumbarton and the Vale to apply for this year's Scottish Space School.

The residential programme at Strathclyde University will take place from Sunday, June 9 until Friday, June 14 and ten of those who attend will be selected for the trip of a lifetime to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Now in its 16th year at the University, the Space School is aimed at S5 pupils currently studying Maths and Science subjects at Higher level.

The 100 successful pupils will stay on campus at Strathclyde for the duration, with all accommodation and meals included throughout.

The programme is made up of a mix of lectures, labs, and workshops on a space theme and is delivered by academics and researchers from the Faculty of Engineering, as well as visiting NASA representatives.

During the week, staff and mentors assess the pupils on the basis of their performance on the allocated tasks and activities, their skills both as a team leader and a team player, and their general attitude, and 40 are then invited to attend a selection workshop.

The ten who are picked will travel to America in October where they will get to meet and interact with astronauts, engineers and scientists who work for NASA and take part in a jam-packed programme of activities, including a VIP tour of the Johnson Space Center.

On the the tour, past cohorts have been given special access to the Apollo Mission Control where they can sit in the flight director's chair and the chance to visit mission control, where the 2015 cohort were lucky enough to see the astronauts on board the International Space Station preparing for a phone call from then US President Barack Obama.

Other areas pupils may visit are the Robotics testing area and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, which is the second largest swimming pool in the world, where astronauts perform a lot of their training prior to going on their missions to space.

The deadline for applications is Sunday January, 20 at midnight and no late applications will be accepted.

To apply click here.