What I meant was there are (probably) many more openings in Operations Research than space physics, since it is more down to earth.

You'd be surprised. Part of the problem, however, is that the funding can be unsteady, as so much gets funded from grants from NASA or NSF. Even ESA has been cutting back in certain areas. But with this whole push to put a man back on the moon and later mars, there's seems to be more of a shift towards 'Space Weather'. ... and of course, "global climate change" is a hot study area right now.

Although the original person in question is a little young for it, NASA does run an undergraduate intern program, and they're already taking applications for next spring ...