NASA Meets Super Bowl LI

Gaze upon this multistage monster that humans built #techisbeautiful #NASAIntern #jsc

Scott Kelly, the astronaut on a one year mission, in his extra vehicular activity (EVA) suit and the International Space Station (ISS). NASA is holding a pumpkin carving contest for its employees. The crew aboard ISS will judges them as they are missing Halloween.

Looking Forward to NASA

Recently I received, and accepted, the gracious opportunity to intern at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas this summer. Using my skills in HTML and Java programming I will be assisting in the Flight Deck of the Future Project. With a team of engineers and fellow intern we will create a user interface for astronauts on board a habitat. I will be blogging about my internship throughout the summer! I had a fantastic experience interning at NASA's Glenn Research Center the summer following my high school graduation. At Johnson Space I hope to meet other peers who share the same passion in aerospace, learn about NASA's latest and greatest endeavors, and maybe even shake hands with a few astronauts.

While captaining my high school's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition for Science and Technology) robotics team I got hooked on engineering and aerospace research. During a robotics Kick Off event NASA’s Jon Grunsfeld, remarked that FIRST robotics is similar to "how we design, built, and tested the NASA Mars Curiosity rover”. This encouraged me to apply to a NASA internship even as a high school student. I interned at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and built a circuit board for a solar array regulator on board a deep space habitat. My circuit board will ensure the habitat is powered by solar panels or batteries at all times. Some of the things I enjoyed at Glenn that I hope to experience again at Johnson Space is the ample hands on meaningful work I did and presentations interns got to attend highlighting NASA's new innovations.

How you can get involved...

High School to College: There are internship opportunities in the fall, spring, and summer in a wide variety of disciplines. There are some interns this summer studying medicine, graphic arts, and journalism. There is something for everyone! Contact me if you need help with the application. Apply on OSSI (one stop shopping initiative) here: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/main/

Elementary to Middle School: There are a ton of  programs for students, even a chance to train as a junior astronaut at space centers. Here are a list of programs: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/descriptions/Students-rd.html

Everyone: Honestly I get most of my NASA updates from twitter and you can follow here: https://twitter.com/NASA They post lots of beautiful pictures too.

People Who Want to be Astronauts (I want to be one too): NASA gets the "how do I become an astronaut?" question a lot and they complied a helpful guide to how you can become one! http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/outreach/jobsinfo/astronaut101.html

Early lunar lander prototype at Johnson Space Center #JSC #NASAIntern

‪STEM is uniquely comprised of careers for every person with every desired lifestyle.

Circuit board I made at a NASA internship at Glenn Research Center summer of 2013 for a Solar Array Regulator.

Hey there, oh wait... there’s no one inside.

Space Device User Test: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 13

Feels like a day back in high school robotics. Staying late Friday to work out the last software bug. If there is a team member in the lab, you are in the lab. Instead a team of high school robo-prodigies, I lead a team of developers and flight controllers in preparation for a space device user test. The goal is to test a stowage app may make unloading and loading cargo ships easier astronauts to perform on the International Space Station. The app runs on a device that makes these operations more hands free. Additionally the app may make stowage operations more error free. I have coordinated the Stowage App's debut - a user test performed by experienced Mission Control flight controllers in NASA Johnson's Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (SVMF). The SVMF is filled with exact replicas where astronauts train and devices are tested.

During the space device user test participants were asked to go on a sort of extraterrestrial Easter egg hunt. Users were asked to unpack stowage items from a visiting vehicle mockup and stow them in the International Space Station mockup. While participants learn how to use the app and pick up items non-biased data takers record results and record reactions. Unapologetically, we threw the users under the bus without giving a tutorial on how to use the app. This way data takers could assess how intuitive (or not) the app is.

Valuable data was collected about app usability. Developers shared they already had ideas to make the app more user friendly. For the remainder of my Co-Op tour I will be engaged with data analysis, brainstorming with the dev team how to improve the app and a pitch to management about continuing app development.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

"This week at NASA" video highlights John H Glenn's interment and Cassini the Saturn orbiter's final days prep.

If you missed NASA's Snapchat story featuring interns their Tumblr page shares how you can land a PAID NASA internship.

Become a US Government Civil Servant and get on track to becoming a full-time NASA employee by participating in the NASA Pathways Internship Program (Co-Op).

Details about Cassini's last shot to take data on Saturn.

Potato Challenge

Today is the Martian Potato Challenge were for 24 hours you can only eat potatoes and water. However throughout the day there are opportunities to win salt, coffee and tea. Why on Earth would I be putting myself through this? It is a campaign to raise money for kids to attend space camp during Minnesota's Give To The Max Day. Although it may be too late to get in on the competition (as you eat a piece of pizza) you can still donate to the cause here...

 https://www.givemn.org/organization/themarsgeneration

Looking Forward to Defrag 2014

Drones, APIs, and Raspberry Pi, Defrag 2014 is a unique tech conference which the coordinators describe "explores the frontiers of technology's intersections with society". Recently I was granted a scholarship, sponsored by True Ventures, to attend Defrag in snow capped mountainous state of Colorado. Thousands of the scientifically savvy will be gathered at Omni Interlocken Resort to take part in a two day tech intensive filled with keynote speakers, break outs, and networking galore. Representatives of big name companies like IBM, Microsoft, Google, Dell, and AT&T will be attending. Aside from from my anticipation of the innovative atmosphere, I am excited to attend keynotes with the names "Robots Take Flight", "Monkey Selfies and Other Conundrums: Who Owns Your Data?", and "Can you Handle the Big Data Explosion?" name just a few. With pen, legal pad, and ideas to contribute I am ready for Defrag 2014 to blow my mind.

Where does the word defrag come from?

Defrag is short for defragmentation. When a file is stored in memory, space which that file takes up may not necessarily be continuous. Meaning, pieces of the file could be stored in chunks separate from each other. Defragmentation matches the pieces that correspond to one another and puts them next to each other. This makes retrieving files faster.

How can I get in on the action?

Throughout both days I will be blogging about my experience which you can follow here. Defrag has their own Twitter tag #defragcon which will provide updates on happenings during the conference. Check out Defrag: http://www.defragcon.com/2014/