Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Mass Estimation Model

This summer I had the opportunity to work at Johnson Space Center in Houston at an internship. I worked in the Flight and Integrated Test Office in the Constellation Program, developing a heavy lift launch vehicle mass estimation model so that our office, which determines the number of test flights needed, what components need to be tested and how much, etc, could quickly determine the ups and downs of certain components or possible upgrades to rockets. This way, my mentor could quickly see through trade studies and optimizations what could be an economically valuable change to current or future configurations and see how this affects the mass of a rocket.

I was so excited during this whole summer, and I only wish that it could have been prolonged so that I could learn even more about orbital mechanics from my mentor. Hopefully I can go back this summer! In the process of building this tool, I learned so much not just about working and some of the science of rocketry but to develop the right attitudes towards solving problems and never giving up on them, trying new approaches and taking one step at a time. I used to want to be an astronaut.... until I found at that engineers design the propulsion systems and the amazing machines that could lead to the salvation of humanity if something happens to Earth!

Aerospace engineering? Designing airplanes and more efficient rocket engines? More please.

Johnson Space Center Internship Starts!

15 June 2010.

I started my internship at Johnson Space Center on Monday! My mentor seems extremely nice and comfortable to work with, and my internship assignment seems provokingly challenging and stimulating. I still cannot believe I am interning at NASA. It seems (not to be cliche) surreal to actually be working at Johnson Space Center, THE Houston. THE Houston of Mission Control and astronaut training. I haven't seen too much around the whole base yet, but what I have seen is impressive. The next 8 weeks? Bliss.

I started out as a participant in the Online Learning Community of the NASA INSPIRE program, which stands for Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research and Education. It's a NASA program for high school students interested in NASA or aerospace, or the STEM areas in general (science, technology, engineering, math). Then those in the Online Learning Community were given the opportunity to apply for a summer experience. Depending on the grade, these include college classes, facility visits, and paid internships. Though really, we'd all known about the summer opportunities, and that's why we'd even applied for the Online Learning Community anyway. It was a long application process, and then after a phone interview, I was elated a few days later to read the email saying I'd been accepted. At Johnson Space Center, they picked 6 interns out of 108 applicants, so I was pretty stoked.

Now, after all that waiting and anticipation, I am finally here. They told us not to ask for autographs from the astronauts when we're eating lunch at the cafeteria, but I mean, if he/she doesn't seem to be too preoccupied... My first two days of work were fabulous, and I can't wait to go again tomorrow. I am so excited for these 8 weeks: for my job and my assignment, how much I'll learn, and also? Also the plethora of networking opportunities there seem. I feel like I can truly lay out the basic foundation for my whole future here at JSC. I can meet other college interns, other mentors, so many people in NASA, so many possibilities. Hopefully I'll come out in August with security of future internships and career paths I could take. I love aerospace, and these last two days have only made stronger my conviction to go into the field. The people I can meet, and amount I can learn... the networking seems endless. After all, if you're working in the same building as the Johnson Space Center Flight Director, anything could happen...

I guess some slogans are just too fitting to be ignored.
Impossible is nothing.
So inspirational. Who knows? But for the moment, everything is just so phenomenal and mind-blowing, and I cannot wait for work tomorrow.

Hopefully I can add some pictures later...

International Space Station wins Collier Trophy 2009

     http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0904/iss_sts119.jpg

     The International Space Statino has won the Collier Trophy for the year of 2009. This award is pretty much like the Nobel Prize for space and aviation in aviation given to the "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America." Given by the National Aeronautic Association, the International Space Station bas been announced as the 2009 winner and the ISS team will be formally presented the award May 13. The station is now nearing completion, which will allow truly unparalleled research and advancement in science. Already, it has made great advancements in areas such as biology, human physiology, and materials science.
      NASA, one of the international agencies working on the project along with the European Space Agency, Russian Federal Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, plays an important part in the construction of the most complicated spacecraft ever built. "We are honored to receive this prestigious award," said Bill Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator of Space Operations Mission Directorate. The International Space Stationg will reach completion later this year, and will mark the 10th anniversary of continuous human presence in space. Boasting past awardees such as the F-22, Boeing 747, F-117 Nighthawk, and Spaceship One, the Collier Trophy truly represents the pinnacle of human achievement in aeronautics and space, fit for a space station that has marked the continuous progress of international human presence and advancement in space.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition22/iss_award_feature.html
http://www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=62

Constellation Program Cancelled?

President Obama, in his economic budget plan for 2011, plans to cut the Constellation program of NASA in light of the recent budget plans for reducing the nation's deficit. With the space shuttle set to retire this year, the canceling of the Constellation program, which planned to be the next step in manned spacecraft with the Orion capsule and Ares rocket, means NASA will have to  look to private companies to man their space ventures, not to mention scrap the hopes of returning to the moon by 2020.

 

Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle

Airport Traffic

 Airport traffic in Munich

       As 2010 gets rolling, we wonder how airports and traffic will fare. most industries, regardless of economic situations generally get bigger, with bigger markets and audiences, and the airline industry is no exception. More and more people fly and travel; how big of a problem will be traffic?

Commercial Spaceflight

Virgin Galactic revealed its SpaceshipTwo and VMS Eve, its mothership, on December 7, signifying how far the dream of space tourism has really come. SpaceshipTwo, now named Enterprise, is the first commercial spacecraft, and is expected to begin service in about a year and half. The company and spaceship are the brainchildren of Richard Branson.

Ion Engines

Ad Astra's Variable Specifc Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR)

 

It seems that in the long run, space exploration or travel will never work with the speeds we have now. Rocket engines using chemical fuels just don't cut it when it comes to traveling far, going to other planets that would take years to get to. Ion engines are not that new of a concept, the idea's been around since the beginning of the 20th century.