Beginning at NASA

In the three weeks since completed my undergrad, I’ve traveled to and through five states as Sam and I drove to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, so she could begin her second internship at Rockwell Collins. She began a week before my summer internship started, so while she was at work, I spent most days at a local public library preparing the documentation for the Spaceport America Cup.

Last weekend we made the trip to Huntsville, AL to get me moved in for my summer internship with NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center. I’m a Research Associate as part of the MSFC Propulsion Academy program. NASA developed several academies in the 90s to enrich the NASA internship experience by providing unique opportunities outside of work hours including lectures, trips to other NASA centers, and weekend activities (camping, paintball, etc).

I’m staying in a dorm on the University of Alabama Huntsville campus, as are the other Academy interns. The first week consisted mostly of orientation, training modules, and understanding the scope of our summer project. I’m working with three others towards a hotfire of a green monopropellant thruster. “Green propellants” are a bit of a misnomer because they aren’t necessarily green and don’t relate to bio-based chemicals. They are less toxic (and sometimes better performing) alternatives to hydrazine and primarily used in attitude or thrust-vector control on satellites in microgravity. These thrusters aren’t like bipropellant engines used to lift rockets from earth, but rather for positioning and orienting satellites and spacecraft.

So far all is going well, and I’m tremendously excited to be working at NASA of all places, with opportunities to network and make connections with individuals in the space industry. It’s only been one week, and I’m excited to share how the rest of the summer turns out.  

I couldn't decide how to caption this, but that's me for scale.