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.