17 Aug Alex Birck, LASP, Week 9

Hello everyone!

It is hard to believe that my internship at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is already over. Somehow, nine weeks went by incredibly quickly. When I first arrived in Boulder, nine weeks sounded like a long time, but now it feels like I just got here. This week was a little different from the others, since I was finishing up my projects while also trying to take in the fact that I would soon be leaving LASP.

I spent time this week helping with the UV spectrometer and getting ready for the asteroid sample project. The asteroid samples themselves hadn’t arrived yet, so I left before we actually got to work with them, but it was still exciting to help get the spectrometer ready and see how it would eventually be used once they did.

I also got to work more with the MANTIS model, which we used to check the spacecraft design, specifically the placement of the radios. The model helped us see whether the MANTIS bus would interfere with the radios and confirm that everything was positioned correctly. It was a great reminder of how a design can be tested and refined before the actual spacecraft is even finished.

Beyond that, I helped with more of SPRITE’s antenna testing. After spending so much of the summer working with SPRITE, it felt fitting to be involved with another part of its testing during my final week — a good project to end the internship on. This week also meant pulling the INFUSE rocket out of the chamber and helping load it onto the truck headed to Wallops for launch prep. Seeing everything get carefully packed and secured for the trip made it feel real — this rocket is actually going to space soon. Of course, no week at LASP goes by without some kind of chaos, and this one was no exception: the SPRITE CubeSat cart got a flat tire on the clean table again, so we improvised a stand on the spot to keep things steady.

There was also a lot happening around LASP outside my own projects. I got to see some of the student work, including a rough vacuum tank, which is used to remove most of the air from a chamber so hardware can be tested in low-pressure conditions. I also finally got to see the yellow room, a controlled environment used for working with sensitive spacecraft hardware. I’d heard people talk about both throughout the summer, so it was satisfying to finally see them in person.

I also got to see parts of the Emirates Mission to the Asteroid Belt (EMA) as some of its hardware was loaded into the lab’s large vacuum tank — affectionately known as Jimmy — for testing. Since the mission will eventually travel to the asteroid belt, it was surreal seeing actual flight hardware headed there, and watching it go into such a massive test chamber really drove home just how much testing spacecraft go through before they ever reach space.

I also got to help Isaias build a 3D-printed cannon out of some old springs and spare parts. It was a fun, low-stakes way to spend part of the last week, a nice break from the spacecraft work. And, of course, I somehow ended up with a stack of stickers from Mike over the course of the summer. Mike was seriously one of the coolest people to work with — always willing to help, explain things, joke around, and pull me into whatever he was working on. He always seemed to have something interesting going on, so there was never a shortage of things to learn. I’m really going to miss having him around.

Then came my last day. Handing in my badge made the internship feel officially over — after using it every day for nine weeks, giving it back was strange. Saying goodbye to everyone was the hardest part. I got to know so many people over the summer, and everyone was always willing to show me their work, answer my questions, and let me get involved. I also rewatched The Odyssey with Isaias during the last stretch of the internship — just as good the second time, and a nice way to spend time outside the lab.

I owe a huge thank-you to Briana, Dmitry, and Brian, who were our actual bosses and made this entire internship possible in the first place. I’m also so grateful to Mike, Wyatt, Anthony, Jacob, and everyone else at LASP who made this summer so memorable. I got to see so many different projects and learn about parts of engineering I never would have experienced otherwise, but more than anything, it’s the people I’ll remember most.

After my last day, my family came to pick me up on Sunday, and we went to see the Denver Summit FC play Boston Legacy FC at Centennial Stadium. It was a close, exciting game — Boston scored first, and Denver tied it up with a penalty kick in the second half. It ended 1–1, so at least I didn’t have to watch Denver lose on my last weekend in Boulder.

Then on Monday, I went to Red Rocks to see the Artemis II astronauts speak in person. I got to sit in the front row, which was surreal — surrounded by aerospace engineers, NASA executives, and directors who had actually worked on the mission. The four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, talked about their historic trip around the Moon and what it was like to actually fly it. Hearing them speak in person, right after a summer spent working around spacecraft and learning about space missions, felt like the perfect way to close out my time in Boulder.

Looking back on the whole summer, it’s hard to pick just a few moments that stand out. I got to work on SPRITE, help with TVAC and antenna testing, spend time in the cleanroom, work with the UV spectrometer, help with MANTIS, see INFUSE, work with the machine shop and 3D printers, check out student projects, and see hardware from missions like EMA. But what made all of it special was getting to do it alongside people who were willing to let me learn with them.

This summer gave me my first real experience of what it’s like to work in the professional engineering world. I got to work on real hardware, help with testing, solve problems, work as part of a team, and see what engineers actually do day to day. More than that, I got to picture myself doing this as a career, and it made me even more excited about what I want to do in the future.

I’m really going to miss LASP. I hope this isn’t the last time I see everyone, and I really hope I get the chance to work alongside you all again someday. I don’t just want to come back and visit — I want to come back as an engineer.