The Ad Astra curriculum followed the recent trend in education of project-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning, but in addition, it was definitely influenced by the interplanetary travel-obsessed entrepreneur’s particular interests. According to Quartz, prospective students answered one of three “synthesis” questions on their application. One had them determine the best of 11 fictional planets for human colonization. Another proposed that they find a prospective buyer for a painting found after the death of a fictional artist. The third question had students allot the blame for an environmental disaster among the parties involved, including a mysterious “puppetmaster,” who the application described as “a wealthy individual who is afraid that new regulations could affect their business empire.”

Ad Astra was very popular among wealthy L.A. parents who wanted an exclusive education for their kids, and it naturally posed many questions about privilege, equality, and the fact that one super rich eccentric dude (who sometimes comes across as possibly being an alien) was financing the whole thing. The school is no longer functioning, but as Interesting Engineering reported in September 2020, the new Astra Nova (“New Star”) school was recently founded by the same people and upon the same principles as its predecessor. Its website claims that the school “develops students that are enthralled by complexity and solving for the unknown.”