My Job

Saturday, April 12, 2008 by Stephen

I am a rocket scientist. Though this term applies to all aerospace engineers whether or not they work on rockets, I do work on a space vehicle that maneuvers using rocket engines. If you can find it, check out Advice to Rocket Scientists from your local library. The first chapter is, "Who is a Rocket Scientist?" The author mentions several things that qualify a person as a rocket scientist. I meet these:

• Have a degree in aerospace engineering
  
• Work at Draper Lab
  
• Work at NASA or a NASA contractor
  
• Work on airplanes or space vehicles

Yes, he calls out Draper specifically.

The vehicle I work on is Orion, what used to be called the NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). It looks like the Apollo CSM but bigger. It will fit 6 people to low Earth orbit, such as when going to the International Space Station (ISS), and 4 people when going to the moon. Unlike the Space Shuttle, Orion will have no wings and no big payload bay. Though Orion will not go to Mars, at least not the way NASA currently envisions it, it will be a major step in developing the technology and experience we need to go to Mars.

I work on Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) systems. Specifically, I have worked on simulating, designing, and analyzing deorbit guidance, burn execution, rendezvous targeting, and to a lesser extent, thrust-vector control, reaction control jets, and aborts. Right now we are gearing up for Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

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