Spectacular Spacey Independence Days

"I Need My Space" - Awaiting the scrubbed space shuttle launch on July 1, 2006

The most space-intensive summers I ever had were my two NASA Academy summers, as an intern in 2005 and a co-leader in 2006. Those two summers produced awesome and awe-inspiring space memories and two memorable Independence Days. Traditional fireworks aren’t the only things that flash, burn, and bang!

In 2005, my NASA cohort of interns based at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama traveled to the Washington, DC area for tours of NASA Headquarters, Goddard Space Flight Center, and the University of Maryland. We also hit up various monuments, the zoo, and museums such as both Smithsonian Air & Space locations while we were there.

Late evening July 3, 2005, our group gathered at a University of Maryland auditorium with other students and invited guests. We heard a talk by University of Maryland professor and NASA Deep Impact mission PI Michael A'Hearn and a few other scientists on the team. We crashed the VIP section of the auditorium to fill up on snacks and grab free mission swag (pins, posters, etc.).

At 1:45 AM on July 4, three large screens showed a live view of the Deep Impact probe approaching comet Tempel 1. We could see the comet clearly. As the minutes went by, we could see craters getting larger as the impactor got closer. Finally the images stopped coming. Cheers erupted from the team at JPL in California. Finally, we could see why. The bottom of the comet had been smashed! A bright flash could be seen from where the impactor had hit, and the images that followed showed the flash growing larger and brighter. It was a spectacular Independence Day explosion, even better than the fireworks we watched at the National Mall later that day.

Americans smacking into a comet on July 4, 2005.

I was a student at Florida Institute of Technology on the Space Coast when the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed upon returning to land at Kennedy Space Center in 2003. We were all devastated. The space shuttles were grounded for two and a half years. Finally, in July 2005, Space Shuttle Discovery launched its return-to-flight mission. Our NASA Academy group was able to witness that spectacular piece of history from the VIP bleachers at Kennedy Space Center.

However, all was not well with the shuttle program, and the space vehicles were grounded for another year. My NASA Academy team in 2006 was able to travel to Kennedy Space Center in July 2006 to see the second Space Shuttle Discovery return-to-flight launch on July 4.

We spent much of that day having fun at the KSC Visitor Complex, which I highly recommend. As launch time approached, used our free-access passes to drive to the Vehicle Assembly Building. Some of our team watched from the ground around the VAB. I followed a few others to climb an unused mobile launch platform to get a view above the trees. Of all the spots I’ve seen a launch, it was one of the best views!

At T-4 minutes, a security guard climbed the mobile launch platform, and there was a collective gasp. “You all have to go,” he said. I stared in shocked disbelief until he said, “Just kidding!” and joined us. From then on, I was in a world of happiness and awe. Apparently some people were chanting the countdown, but I couldn’t hear them. I was in my own world where only me and Discovery existed.

A rocket ignition is the best type of firework there is!

My view of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch from atop the treeline on July 4, 2006.

Although we’ve been waiting patiently the past two days for the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of Intelsat 35e, we will not get a rocket launch firework display tonight. But here’s to hoping for a future SpaceX launch success and future spacey Independence Days to come!

NASA Education: Funding Student Dreams

A week ago, the Trump Administration released a draft of the proposed FY2018 budget. My first instinct was to shrug it off. Congress creates the budget and usually ignores anything in the president's budget it doesn't agree with.

But then I saw a proposed cut within NASA: the entire NASA Education office. And I was up in arms. NASA Education initiatives and funding are what kick-started my career in the space industry. It's the reason I am where I am today. NASA Education, just a measly 0.000225% of the FY2017 budget, has wide-reaching results around the country for countless numbers of students and the general public.

The NASA Space Grant Consortium is under the NASA Education program. In all 50 states plus Puerto Rico, students are given opportunities they wouldn't normally have, especially if they don't live near a NASA center. US taxpayers pay for NASA's $19 billion budget, and NASA gives back to taxpayers in so many ways. NASA Education with its many programs such as Space Grant is a way to reach back to all regions of the country.

For this Philadelphian, NASA Education gave me my first two research opportunities. After my freshman year of college, Delaware Space Grant funded my astronomy research at Villanova University. (I'm not sure why Delaware and not Pennsylvania; I didn't ask.) Pennsylvania Space Grant approved my application for my first internship, NASA Academy at Marshall Space Flight Center, which Florida Space Grant ultimately paid for because I was enrolled in a Florida university. With those two summers of research experience, I was accepted into my top choice graduate school.

NASA Education funds more than just internships. In grad school, I was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program (GSRP) fellowship. Being a NASA GSRP fellow meant I could continue my studies in high-energy astrophysics and continue to work with the team at NASA MSFC.

I also have Space Grant to thank for giving me the opportunity to take one step closer to my dream of becoming an astronaut. Florida Space Grant funded my scientist astronaut training at the National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center where I received my Suborbital Scientist Astronaut Training wings.

Space Grant also sponsored my unofficial internship at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works. I conducted work beneficial to NASA's goals and related to my doctoral research with Florida Space Grant's support.

And then there are NASA programs I participated in that NASA Education may have had a hand in, I'm not sure. As a high school sophomore, I job shadowed scientists and engineers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and attended a workshop for high schools about women in science, including NASA satellite engineers. I attended Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, which is privately funded but also benefits from NASA Education. Astronaut Sally Ride visited my high school when I was a senior to speak about inspiring children to pursue their dreams. Who knows what else NASA Education has touched in my life.

And this is just my experience! So many of my colleagues have similar success stories thanks to NASA Education. Just ask around.

Students younger than college-age also benefit. I participated in FIRST Robotics in high school, which is partly sponsored by NASA Education. Kindergarteners through postdocs and educators benefit from NASA Education programs. A full list is on the NASA Education website.

Is NASA Education important to you? Contact your elected representatives to tell them why. Ask them to fully fund NASA Education.

Thank you to the Washington Post for covering this important issue and including my perspective regarding the importance of the NASA Education office. “A lot of times the only way women or minorities can actually succeed is through these grants. It's the only way they continue getting funding.” Support NASA Education for the next generation.

#firstsevenjobs

Even at 16, I was focused on space!

It has been over a month since my last catch-up blog entry. What a crazy month it has been! I started my new position at Northern Sky Research, which I'll write about later because it's awesome. Moving, selling a house, and buying a house have been enormously time-consuming. I am pleased to report that our Florida home is on the market and we're in contract to move into our new home north of Columbus, Ohio in a month. In the meantime, we're living in a hotel room. All of us. My husband, our crawling-and-cruising baby, three cats, a dog, and fish. Life is an adventure.

Recently, there was a trending Twitter hashtag (with variants): #firstsevenjobs. I've always found people's journeys fascinating. I had to really think about my life, where I started and how far I've come, in order to write my first seven jobs progression. It's difficult to remember life as a 16-year-old just starting out making minimum wage. A high school student with dreams, plans, and potential! It seemed that each job represented another step in my journey, another chapter in my life.

It was just as interesting to read others' journeys, posted in fewer than 140 characters. Some posters, early in their careers, shine potential and hope. Others, later in their careers, embody calm satisfaction with where they are. Surprisingly, some successful careers took fewer than 7 jobs to achieve, especially military careers. Great for them! Some successful careers were preceded by so many lower-level jobs that 7 wasn't enough to paint a picture of success. But they got there. Or they will.

The diversity of paths is what fascinates me the most. Everyone's first seven jobs were completely different and mostly unpredictable. We do a disservice to kids by implying they must choose their careers young and not diverge from their (or someone else's) chosen path. No one's path is straight and plan-able. But we all end up going somewhere.

From an early age, I fell in love with space and decided that what I wanted to dedicate myself to. But that's not a job title nor a job path. I had to feel my way through it. In high school, I felt lost, not knowing how to get there or who to ask. Authority figures were supportive but just as unknowing. We all knew college was a good place to start!

Even before college, I had a first job: babysitter. Based on my high school circle, I would have thought babysitting was a common first job. This doesn't seem to be the case based on what others tweeted. I had brief side gigs selling things and tutoring, but for the most part, I watched other people's kids. I babysat under-the-table, then obtained my first official job at age 16 in childcare at the local YMCA making minimum wage.

I'm grateful to the professors and administration at my undergraduate university emphasizing the importance of internships and career-relevant experience. The summer after my freshman year of college, I sought my first astronomy internship. I had no idea how to get one. With cold calling, I obtained a volunteering astronomy research position while also obtaining my second official job: selling shoes in a mall department store for minimum wage plus commission. I was terrible at it. Thankfully, my volunteer position ended up being paid, leading to job #3 and my first career-related job at age 19: astronomy research assistant.

I'm so very grateful to the professors who gave me a chance. Many people's third jobs aren't positions related to their intended career. This position led to every other step and success in my career. Without this starting point, I wouldn't be where I am today. From them, I learned about scientific research, programming, data analysis, and technical writing. I was officially a scientist-in-training.

I returned to that job for a second summer, but not before beginning job #4: student newspaper editor-in-chief. I've held numerous volunteer position, including some career-related, that I don't consider to be official jobs. After a year of voluntarily serving as news editor, I was paid (minimally) to lead the student newspaper for two years. It was a time-consuming, thankless job, but I learned quite a bit about communication, language, marketing, and layout. And I was "banned from NASA for life" - ha!

I landed my first NASA internship at Marshall Space Flight Center during the summer after my junior year. Job #5 had a similar title as job #3: astrophysics research associate. I spent a second summer with that same position before transitioning from intern to graduate research assistant, job #8. But not before taking on job #6: grader for a freshman physics class. During that summer between undergraduate and graduate school, I also helped run the internship program as an assistant operations manager, job #7. The summer ended and grad school began.

From high school babysitter to astrophysics graduate student in seven jobs and six years. That's a long way! In the following decade, I've become a chemical engineer, a planetary science graduate research assistant, a space industry analyst, a scientific research analyst for International Space Station payloads, a regional operations manager for a space start-up, a high school tutor, and an independent space analyst and scientist.

By my count, I'm up to jobs #15 and #16 (simultaneously). And I provide full-time childcare for my infant, but I'm not paid for that. Sixteen paid positions, and I'm still early/mid career! Insert millennial joke here.

Each person's path is unique. Very rarely is it straight and predictable. Very rarely do first (or second or third) jobs indicate someone's career path or potential. From the start I had a goal – space – but not everyone does. And that's okay. We keep on trying, keep on going, keep on reaching and exploring. I'm looking forward to seeing where my journey takes me.

How's your career journey going?

Imagining A Mission to Jupiter's Ganymede with Planetary Science Summer School

Group shot - PSSS Session 1 - July 2010

The application deadline for the NASA Planetary Science Summer School at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California is approaching, and I realized that I hadn't yet written about my own PSSS experience six years ago. Rereading our paper and looking at photos just now, I remembered that I had met a few of my friends and colleagues through that experience. I present to you:

Ganymede Interior, Surface, and Magnetometer Orbiter, or, GISMO.

Planetary Science Summer School is a one-week bootcamp. Fourteen of us planetary science and engineering graduate students and post-docs gathered for the first session of PSSS in July 2010. We had been emailing back and forth for a month or so, throwing around ideas and getting to know each other. It was through these exchanges that we settled on our mission to Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon and the only moon known to have its own magnetosphere (magnetic field).

I was assigned the positions of Planetary Protection (protecting other worlds from us) and Education & Public Outreach (EPO). I was tasked with creating our protocols and objectives for protecting Ganymede and nearby worlds such as Europa from contamination and educating the public, especially students.

Protecting the solar system from us humans - July 2010

Additionally, I chose to be on the non-icy surfaces team and the instruments team. On the non-icy surface team, we focused and advocated for studying the interesting surface and subsurface features that Ganymede has to offer, that aren't ice. On the instruments team, we determined which sensors we'd need to carry in order to complete our science objectives. We had to make difficult choices when we didn't have enough money, didn't have enough data bandwidth downlink, didn't have enough power, or was too heavy to carry all that we wanted to fly.

What impressed me the most about the experience was how quickly we were able to design a planetary exploration mission to another world. With the help of experts from JPL's Team X, in just a week, we wrote a mission design paper and an hour-long presentation with technical details and budgets in line with a NASA New Frontiers program mission. The science objectives of the GISMO probe were to study:

• the magnetic field
• the interior
• the surface
• the atmosphere

All for approximately $710 million.

This was my first time at JPL, so I was glad we also got to see the sights. We got a tour of the Mars Exploration Rover mission (Spirit and Opportunity) facilities including rover mock-ups, testbeds, and the controls that give the rovers their schedule. We saw the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity in the clean room before it was launched. It was nice to roam the campus-like grounds, including spending time with the deer. We even saw a show at the Hollywood Bowl, BBC's Planet Earth with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Me with a Mars rover mock-up - July 2010

Mars rover testbed - July 2010

Curiosity on a test run in the JPL cleanroom before its stroll on Mars - July 2010

In addition to our NASA presentation that week, we also presented our paper at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Science Conference, the American Geophysical Union conference, and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers' Aerospace conference. If there ever is a NASA mission to Ganymede in the future, I hope that the creators of that mission build upon what we started with GISMO.

A Pseudo Geologist Among the Rocks at Barringer Meteor Crater, Arizona

Around 50,000 years ago, a nickle-iron meteorite approximately 50 meters long hit the Earth in what is now Arizona, creating what is known as Meter Crater or the Barringer Crater. Four and a half years ago, I got to explore it. I was one of 16 graduate students who participated in the Lunar and Planetary Institute's Meteor Crater Field Camp in September 2011. It was quite an experience!

On the rim of Meteor Crater - September 2011

I'll start out by admitting that I was not exactly a happy camper during the eight day field camp because I am not a camper at all. I enjoy comfortable beds, temperature controlled rooms, clean bathrooms, vehicles that can take me long distances, and other modern conveniences. To be fair, camping at Meteor Crater isn't fully camping. They had bathroom facilities with decent showers, electrical outlet ports outside, and wifi. I brought my laptop and connected to the internet every morning and evening. Even so, eight days is a long time for a non-camper to camp.

The Meteor Crater camp site - September 2011

I was also quite out-of-place with my peers. Although the program was open to geologists and planetary scientists, it heavily leaned toward geology. I had taken a graduate-level geology class and was studying lunar impact craters, but it was soon clear that I was the least knowledgeable about geology in the pack. Additionally, my fellow classmates seemed to love rocks and their excitement to stare endlessly at rocks was genuine. I think rocks are cool, but my interest in the minutia is short-lived. The program leader quickly identified me as a geologist fraud and took a disliking to me. We didn't see eye-to-eye on space policy, either. Despite my inadequacies, I learned quite a bit of geology from my peers and became the group's photographer with my DSLR.

Group at work - September 2011

Someone else took this one. I'm the short girl in purple - September 2011

The landscapes in the desert are gorgeous and plenty photogenic. We hiked around the crater rim, down to the center and back up again, around the crater ejecta blanket, and in an old quarry. Abandoned mining equipment and infrastructure littered the field like an archaeological site. Recent rains caused wildflowers to burst with color. And my team always seems to be posing in an action shot among the rocks. The sights were truly spectacular.

Wildflowers blooming - September 2011

Abandoned wheel - September 2011

Standing in the ruins with abandoned buildings yonder - September 2011

On the second full day, former astronaut Tom Jones joined us in our hike down the crater. I had met him once before and once since, and he always seems like such a cool guy. Apollo astronauts used to train for the lunar terrain in the crater, and NASA relics are still kept in the crater's museum, so the area has a history of astronaut activity. Tom gave us a presentation on potentially hazardous near Earth asteroids, a relevant subject in an area once hit by a near Earth asteroid.

Posing with astronaut Tom Jones - September 2011

Resting at the bottom of the crater - September 2011

If I wasn't a geologist before I arrived at the field camp, I certainly wasn't going to leave as one. Day after day, we undertook laborious tasks that I can't quite believe modern geologists still do. We counted pebbles by hand. We measured pebbles with rulers. We took location measurements of boulders with outdated handheld GPS receivers. We categorized everything we saw with our own eyes. It seemed to me that aerial remote sensing with good software could have accomplished most of what we did a lot more easily, but graduate students are cheap labor and we were out there for the experience.

Working among the rocks - September 2011

I do appreciate the experience and I'm glad to have participated in the program. Real science was done, and in a small way, I contributed. I'm a co-author on conference proceedings from the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference: Extensional Faulting of the Overturned Coconino Ejecta Layer and Emplacement of Fallback Breccia at Barringer Meteorite Crater (aka Meteor Crater). But honestly, I'm more proud of my photography.

Self-portrait on the cliff - September 2011

Sunset at Meteor Crater - September 2011

How to Find an Awesome Space Internship

A student contacted me today asking for advice about finding internships. I previously wrote advice to companies seeking interns, but hadn't yet written advice for students seeking internships. Now's the time. Please keep in mind that I'm writing from my own experience and that this may not encompass every opportunity for students.

With the internet as mature as it is now, it's easy to find internship websites. This wasn't the case when I was a freshman in college looking for my first summer internship. I wrote to the head of educational programs at Kennedy Space Center who responded that there were no non-engineering internships for scientists at KSC and that I would need to change my major to apply (which is completely untrue, but I didn't know that back then). I resorted to “cold calling” to get my first internship that summer, which worked well for me.

Now, every formal opportunity has a website. Whether those websites are kept updated and organized is another story. Don't be fooled into thinking that what's published are the only opportunities out there. Just as networking leads to success in job searches, leverage contacts to find informal or unpublished internships that have little or no competition.

The internet is your friend. Search terms such as “NASA internships,” “space internships,” “aerospace internships,” “astronomy internships,” “engineering internships,” etc. produce a lot of results. You can stay broad in your search or look for a very specific opportunity. Don't forget to browse social media sites as well.

Check out company websites. Almost all of them will post job opportunities. Remember that there are more newspace companies out there than just SpaceX! Be open-minded. Smaller companies or companies that don't post internships specifically usually have a HR contact. It never hurts to ask. If you know anyone in the company, feel free to contact them as well – this is called using your network. Published internships at larger companies or entities tend to be more competitive, so be prepared to see strict deadlines with application requirements such as transcripts and letters of recommendation. Some internships come with scholarships and will be even more competitive.

NASA internship organization has gotten better is still rather disorganized. They've been trying to centralize and standardize the process for years, but opportunities are still spread out over many NASA websites. To add to the confusion, many NASA internships change their names over the years and some are discontinued while new ones pop up. Don't just visit one NASA internship page; keep looking. I highly encourage applying to any NASA internships that you're interesting in, but note that dealing with disorganization and inefficiency is part of the process of dealing with a bureaucracy.

Check out the websites of your state's NASA Space Grant and any student or professional societies/organizations that you're involved in or want to become involved in. These organizations are there to connect students and young professionals with opportunities in the field. Many of these organizations offer internship or scholarship opportunities themselves, but if not, most will offer suggestions of relevant internship opportunities. They may have compiled an up-to-date list for you.

University departments similarly may have compiled lists of opportunities for their students, including local and internal internships. Don't discount the possibility of working for one of your professors over the summer. University career service centers may also have lists based on major, but because they must search for opportunities for all majors, their list may lack content for your particular major. Professors themselves may know of opportunities at the university or with colleagues elsewhere. Again, use your network.

There are no hard rules for obtaining an informal internship. It's a combination of using connections to find opportunities (networking) and luck. Be prepared for these opportunities to be unpaid/volunteer. If fortune really works for you, you may find that funding is available for you even for an informal internship. Student interns are very inexpensive in the grand scheme of things. Talk to your professors, your connections in your field, anyone who you've met or even professionals who you have not met who may know of a short-term work opportunity that fits you.

Although most formal internships are paid, some are not. It's up to you to determine whether accepting an unpaid internship works for you. Most internships are on-site and may require you to temporarily move, and not all internships will assist you in finding temporary lodging. Some internships allow for remote work from your home, school, or a satellite office. Some internships are highly structured and some are much looser. Keep in mind the requirements, especially if you're an international student.

If you wish to get university credit for your internship experience, speak with your university about the requirements. Each university is different. Keep in mind that the experience gained during an internship is vastly more important and beneficial than any university credit that you may receive, so don't let university rules or tuition fees stop you from accepting an internship that you really want.

As I stressed in my advice to companies, interns are students but also professionals, regardless of age. Expect to be treated as a professional even as an intern. Insist on it. Act like it. You may not have the experience, clearance, or authority of a full-time employee, but you are an employee-in-training and a potential star employee for the company. Internships are test drives for the students as well as the companies. Make your test drive count.

A Student's Life Changed at NASA Academy MSFC

I was accepted into my first official NASA internship during the summer of 2005 after my junior year of undergrad. There are many amazing internship programs to choose from, but the one that caught my attention was NASA Academy. I loved the combination of research and leadership training. At the time, there were only three NASA Academy programs, and I was thrilled to have been accepted to the one at Marshall Space Flight Center. For ten weeks, 13 students (including 10 females – very unusual!) lived, worked, and played in Huntsville, Alabama, Rocket City USA. I had reached my dream of semi working for NASA! I was thrilled.

I was so excited to work at NASA, I took a screenshot of my listing in the NASA directory. All contact info is long expired.

The majority of my time was spent researching gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with a MSFC team at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) located adjacent to the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Along with the rest of the students, I was also badged to access NASA MSFC located in Redstone Arsenal. We also spent a surprising amount of time traveling to different NASA centers and places of interest. We also had the privilege of privately meeting and hearing talks from several top people in the area. It was a packed summer!

I worked with one other student researching GRBs with our two mentors, Chryssa and Sandy. We analyzed X-ray and gamma-ray data from the Swift space observatory. Perhaps because of my prior research experience, I seemed to pick up on the work quickly and enjoyed teaching my fellow research student. As is typical with short-term internships, there was only so much that we could accomplish in the 10 week program. I ended up returning the following summer to continue my research and obtain my master's degree at UAH working on GRB research. I will write more on this later.

An astrophysicist-in-training at work - NSSFC, Huntsville, AL, June 2005

One of the first special activities we did was weekend adult Space Camp at the US Space & Rocket Center. I had attended Space Camp twice in middle school and twice in high school, so I knew what to expect, but this was an abridged and more advanced version! For our first mission, I served as CAPCOM in mission control. For the second mission, I was an astronaut on an EVA to fix a broken satellite. We used the Aviation Challenge flight simulators to dog fight. We participated in a mock helicopter rescue from a lake. It was so fun!

Spelling out NASA in our flight suits - US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL, June 2005

Working mission control - US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL, June 2005

EVA wave - US Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL, June 2005

Next we traveled to Houston to visit Johnson Space Center. We met the JSC director, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and a few flight directors. We were taken on tours of the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, the Robonaut lab, the International Space Station training mock-up, the Mission Simulator and Training Facility, the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket lab, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, and the X-38 high bay. We watched the movie Apollo 13 on the big screen in the Apollo Mission Control room.

Apollo Mission Control Room, JSC, Houston, TX, June 2005

We traveled to Washington, D.C. and Maryland to visit NASA Headquarters and Goddard Space Flight Center. There we attended a series of lectures by professionals including NASA exploration, legislative affairs, international programs, NASA's values, the James Webb Space Telescope, and various science topics. We toured GSFC and visited the National Zoo and some of the Smithsonian museums. We witnessed the Deep Impact collision of the comet Tempel 1 at the University of Maryland where the mission PI was from. We watched Independence Day fireworks at the National Mall.

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, Dulles, VA, July 2005

Group shot at NASA Headquarters - Washington, D.C., July 2005

Astronaut Laura - GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, July 2005

Before and after the Deep Impact comet collision - University of Maryland, July 2005

As the resident Floridian, I organized a trip to Kennedy Space Center around the time of the Return to Flight space shuttle launch. We saw Space Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad, got a tour of the SRB Assembly Refurbishment Facility and the historic sites at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and watched Space Shuttle Atlantis roll into the Vehicle Assembly Building. We met with KSC director Jim Kennedy. We relaxed on the beach. We watched the space shuttle launch from the VIP section of Banana Creek along with several secret service agents protecting First Lady Laura Bush who was watching with Governor Jeb Bush.

Group shot at Pad B with Space Shuttle Discovery - KSC, Florida, July 2005

One of the best launch shots I've ever taken - Discovery Return to Flight STS-114, July 2005

We toured Huntsville locations of interest as well, of course. At MSFC we toured the Propulsion Research Laboratory, the Space Environment and Effects lab where I held a piece of solar sail material, the X-Ray Cryogenic Facility where the James Webb Space Telescope was being worked on, the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance lab, the Robotics Flat Floor facility, the International Space Station Science Control rooms, and the NSSTC where I worked. Outside of MSFC we toured the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the the Von Braun Observatory on top of Monte Sano. We went also ice skating, sky diving, and cave exploring.

I jumped out of a plane and survived! - Cullman, AL, summer 2005

We met with a number of great locals or visiting professionals as well, such as MSFC director David King, astronauts Owen Garriott, Leroy Chiao, and astronaut Tony Antonelli with his T-38. We attended a number of lectures on rocket propulsion, NASA administration, lightning research, environmental control and life support systems, in-situ resource utilization, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and space weather monitoring.

Checking out the T-38 with astronaut Tony Antonelli - Huntsville, AL, summer 2005

By the middle of the summer, we gave poster presentations of our research for all of MSFC to see. By the end of the summer, we gave short talks on our research. By the end of the summer, I had analyzed six GRBs by modeling their lightcurves and spectra and discovering a few flares. As a group, we created educational documents for the US Space & Rocket Center. I was awarded the Von Braun Leadership Award.

Research presentation - MSFC, Huntsville, AL, August 2005

Group shot in front of the Wernher von Braun bust - MSFC, Huntsville, AL, summer 2005

My NASA Academy experience was one of the best in my life and I'm so grateful to all who were a part of it. I returned to Huntsville the following summer to help staff NASA Academy and continue my research. I also joined the NASA Academy Alumni Association, which unfortunately is currently inactive, but I hope that one of the newer classes will restart it. I still occasionally keep in touch with some of the NASA Academy alumni who I met during those two summers who are still involved in the space industry. My NASA Academy summer had a tremendous influence on my career goals and direction and inspired me to keep moving forward no matter what it took. I highly recommend the program to interested undergraduate and graduate students.

First Internship: From Cold Calling to Astronomy Researcher

I'm sometimes asked how I got my first internship. Some students find it difficult to get accepted into an internship program when they don't have any experience, but can't get experience until someone gives them a chance. It can be a frustrating cycle for students just starting out.

The summer after my freshman year of undergraduate was packed with plans: take two chemistry courses at a community college to transfer to my main university, get LASIK eye surgery, and get a job. I didn't think that I had the time to take on a summer internship. But once I moved back to Pennsylvania for the summer and began searching for a summer job, I wondered if I could get paid to research. (I also took a job in retail at the mall, just in case.)

I obtained my first research position by “cold calling” professors. I lived just outside of Philadelphia where there is no shortage of excellent universities, including a few conducting astronomy research. A great professor, Dr. Larry DeWarf of Villanova University, gave me a chance.

Mendel Science Center at Villanova University - taken 2003

I was hired in a volunteer research position to assist with the Sun in Time project. I measured the emissions of magnesium-2 from the spectra (energy distribution of light) of 50 stars to determine each star’s period of revolution, which is related to their age. The goal was to identify Sun-like stars in the Solar Twin component of the project. I didn't care that it was a volunteer position; I just wanted the experience. The research I conducted was used in another student's poster presentation at the next American Astronomical Society meeting (which won first place) and was published in a paper at some point.

Congratulations on winning 1st place, Ryan! - taken 2004

A week later, I was offered a second research position in the same department, working for Dr. Ed Sion. Larry had talked to Ed about me and there was a little bit of grant funding available for a part-time student researcher. I modeled the spectra of cataclysmic variable stars that brighten at irregular times, then return to less active periods of quiescence. In particular, I researched the WW Ceti white dwarf system at outburst and compared it to its quiescent period. I also learned how to use a Unix-based operating system that summer.

Ed is known for encouraging students to publish their work. Based on that summer's research and future work conducted by others, I published my first paper in which I was the second author: A Far Ultraviolet Study of the Hot White Dwarf in the Dwarf Nova WW Ceti (2006).

My first internship led to my second one. Ed hired me on again the following summer to work on more cataclysmic variables as my only summer work. Because I had already been trained the summer before, I was able to work rapidly and model many such systems. I modeled ultraviolet emissions from the stellar accretion disks and the white dwarf stars. I'm sure that my research that summer was published in several system-specific papers, though I wasn't involved in the writing of any of them.

Model fitting from the WW Ceti paper

I am very grateful to the professors who gave this green student a chance and to the fellow students who helped to train me and befriend me over those summers. I proved to myself during those first two summers that I had what it took to be an astronomy researcher. The experience I gained helped prepare me for my NASA internships and graduate research. Thank you to professors and professionals who take the time from your own research to teach and uplift the next generations!

A High School Student's Glimpse into NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

In recalling my internship experiences in my last blog entry, it occurred to me that my first space-related professional experience was not a formal internship but rather a one-week-long job shadowing experience at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

I was a high school sophomore (10^th grade) in Pennsylvania just outside of Philadelphia, barely 16 years old. My high school offers sophomores and juniors one or two weeks off from school to participate in school-sponsored special projects. By that point, I had gone to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama three times (out of six total) and had been completely bitten by the space bug. I knew that I wanted to work for NASA.

I lived approximately two hours from Greenbelt, Maryland where GSFC is located. At the time and perhaps still now, GSFC's Education Office had a job shadow program. I was accepted into the program and paired with four NASA employees for four days, focusing on one area each day.

I had a very talented and organized late grandmother who scrapbooked the experience for me. Not to dismember her efforts, I've taken photos of the scrapbook as they are, plastic sheet glare and all.

Entering Goddard Space Flight Center - February 2000

Hanging out with the astronaut spacesuit - February 2000

Future astronaut Laura sitting in a mock spacecraft - February 2000

My first day was with Dr. Cindy Hamel, environmental scientist and educator. She taught me some of the instruments and techniques that scientists and engineers use to study the universe around us, a field I now know to be called remote sensing. I distinctly remember that she used bat sonar as an example, though I can't quite remember the analogy.

My second day was with Dr. Herb Frey, planetary scientist and geologist. Pathfinder had just landed on Mars a couple years before and Mars Global Surveyor was in orbit. Both sent back detailed imagery of the red planet. In a world before any of the web tools we have access to today, I had never seen the Martian surface in such detail! Dr. Frey told me that he was working on identifying good landing sites for future Mars missions and allowed me to play with the imagery to see if I could spot a good location.

My third day was with Nick Shur, a satellite engineer. He gave me a tour of GSFC's high bays where satellites were being assembled and tested. I distinctly remember being puzzled by his statement that I would be his boss someday. I have no plans to become center director of GSFC, but I do understand what he meant now. Students who express an interest in a field early and act upon that interest often have a significant leg up compared to peers who enter a field later.

My fourth and final day was with Dr. Shaida Johnston. With her, I learned about the Landsat satellites. She allowed me to play with imagery from Landsat 7, the newest at the time. Again, in a world before Google Earth, I was fascinated by my ability to view the world from space. I zeroed in on areas of interest, including the volcano Mt. Etna in Sicily, which I would visit in person two years later.

Two years following this experience, I was accepted into college to study astrophysics, followed by numerous NASA and other space-related experiences. My career thus far has included all four areas that I was shown during the GSFC program: education and public outreach, planetary science, satellite and spacecraft engineering, and remote sensing. I am so grateful to those who took the time to arrange this experience for a curious high school student! As I was encouraged along the way, I hope to encourage other students who may be just as curious.

How to Acquire an Intern

I’m on vacation with my family up north, but I’m still keeping up with space news. A Twitter posting has gotten me thinking and I have a little bit of time to write my thoughts. The question: How do you acquire an intern?

I’m surprised by the question. In my experience, there are an overwhelming number of potential interns for a limited number of internships. Students usually throw themselves at companies/organizations that offer internships. My first thought was: If you don’t know how to acquire an intern, you shouldn’t acquire an intern.

The question was posed to advertise a local lecture panel that a technology group is hosting. For $5 - $10 and two hours, several speakers will tell the audience how to find and get interns. I can’t imagine what they’ll talk about for two hours. I’m tempted to attend just to find out how five speakers will fill two hours on this topic without getting very repetitive.

I’ve held several internships in my early career, some paid, some unpaid, some official and established, some unofficial last-minute arrangements. I’ve enjoyed all of them. I’ve found all of them to be valuable learning experiences and worthwhile commitments. I’ve also heard experiences of friends and colleagues who have had poor internship experiences or who have witnessed poor internship experiences. How to design a good internship is more important and more difficult than how to acquire an intern.

The following is my opinion from my experience, for what it’s worth:

Write a job description with a clear project outline and deliverable. Never, ever hire an intern without a clear plan for what he/she will be doing with his/her time. The worst internship experiences are the internships on paper, positions that look good on a resume but give the intern no responsibilities and no accomplishments. At the end of the internship, the intern should be able to say that it was more than sitting at a desk, attending meetings, and meeting a few people. Treat the intern like any other employee who can produce something valuable. Requiring a deliverable at the end of the internship helps to focus the intern’s attention and time. Writing a job description will help you to focus on who to hire.

Promote the internship. Larger companies/organizations will have interns visiting their websites to find opportunities. Smaller companies/organizations may not have that luxury of interns coming to them. Social media is your friend. Use whatever internet and social media methods are available to you to advertise opportunities widely. A good opportunity will be spread widely. Contact key educational institutions to help spread the word. Research how students find internships by typing phrases like “list of space internships” into Google and find key listings or websites where you can advertise. Enlist the assistance of previous interns and current employees. Skip paper advertisements and direct mailings that will most likely go straight to the trash.

Recruit and treat interns as you would any other employee. Interns are temporary employees, whether paid or unpaid. To treat them otherwise does them and your company a disservice. Interns may need more guidance and oversight, but they should be treated as professionals, regardless of their age. High school and college students will feel disrespected if you treat them as children. The recruitment process for interns may not be as extensive as a permanent employee process, but there should still be a process. Interns should be expected to work and produce as any other new employee just starting out would.

Decide ahead of time how you will handle logistics. Non-locals will have more needs than locals such as travel and lodging arrangements. Foreign nationals may have more needs than citizens depending on workplace security policies. Interns may have office needs. Interns may also work remotely from around the world. Interns should have one or several supervisors who need to be prepared to teach and train. Interns should be held accountable to one or more supervisors who will expect that their time is being used productively. Be prepared to issue proper documentation if education credit is being issued for an internship.

To pay or not to pay. Both paid and unpaid internships are valuable. Interns will be interested in your opportunity either way. If you decide to go the unpaid route, your pool of potential interns may be limited and you may not get the most highly qualified applicants. Look into the legality of not paying workers. I’ve held three unpaid internships and there was never an issue, but I’m not familiar with the rules. Younger or less experienced interns will not expect much in terms of pay, but older or more experienced interns will be more selective.

I work for a small start-up. Every single talk I’ve given to a student group lately has asked me whether my company hires interns or had students approach me after the talk, often with resumes in hand. Students contact me via LinkedIn asking for internship opportunities. If I were to post an internship opportunity right now on my Twitter account, even with my small following, it would get retweeted several times. Students are thirsty for the opportunity to become interns. If you can’t find them, you don’t deserve them. Kudos to any company or organization that offers this valuable experience to eager workers who desire to learn.