Space Credits: “Doing research and development on advanced propulsion systems (like the BPT-4000 Hall Effect Thruster,) which are currently flying in space today. It’s critical to develop these technologies to enable faster, cheaper and more efficient space travel for both human and non-human missions.”
Space Ambition: To become an astronaut. “In 2013, I was part of NASA’s Astronaut Selection Process and was selected an Astronaut Finalist Interviewee" (top 1 percent of applicant pool; 50 out of 6,300 applicants).
Origin Story: “I went to a summer science camp when I was six or seven and we built Estes model rockets, and I just totally would NOT shut up about it to my parents. My grandmother bought me one for my birthday that year. It was all downhill from there.”
Space Credits: “My proudest achievement to date comes from the USC Rocket Lab. As a group of students, we spent years growing the organization and developing the technologies required to get an amateur rocket into space. We successfully launched several incremental rockets before designing and building Traveler—the first university space-shot attempt.”
Space Credits: “My greatest space-related achievement so far was working on the Merlin 1C engines for the first flight of the Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX was a much smaller company at the time, and I had the opportunity to work hands-on with each of the engines. Seeing the rocket fly successfully and knowing I had a part in it was one of the most exciting moments of my life.”