Halfway through the NASA internship, from ISS town halls to control rooms
At the midpoint of his Marshall internship, Raby writes on ISS command and communications work, and the visit to NASA Glenn that first drew him to space.
From ISS town halls to control rooms to offices, it has been great to meet and work with so many excellent people through the first half of my internship at NASA Marshall. It has been fascinating to learn about and begin creating materials that synthesize some of the ISS command and communications systems, to help develop an operational plan to optimize facility capabilities, and much more.
I have long been fascinated with space operations and the technology that enabled the exploration of humanity's final frontier. That interest was solidified years ago during a public open house at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, which showcased the spinoff inventions — from Velcro to materials to the components in our phones and computers — that began with NASA. It was one of the first times I realized the impact of NASA's quest to push the limits of human exploration. Once an interest, now an opportunity.
As we approach the Fourth of July, we should celebrate the trailblazing spirit NASA has come to embody, and that our country's investment in it has paid back far beyond what anyone imagined at its creation 64 years ago. Ad astra, per aspera — through adversity, to the stars.
