Friday, August 9, 2019

2019-08-09: Free Flyers: Autonomous Coordinated Operations


This team of interns are simulating small satellite free flyers for coordinated operations.  The achieved some major things this summer, and I was very happy to capture exactly what they've been working on!

Check it out above!

Thursday, August 8, 2019

2019-08-08: Sarah Woodham: Exit Presentation Summer 2019


Sarah Woodham, a rising senior at Virginia Tech, worked with HFACS (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System) this summer.

Watch her exit presentation to learn more!

2019-08-08: Kathleen Clark: Exit Presentation Summer 2019


Kathleen, or Katie, Clark presented AMP, A Maze Project, where she worked towards understanding human trust in autonomous machines.

This summer, she developed various mazes to test individual differences and communication styles of humans so they can better trust autonomous machines.

2019-08-08: Pathways Intern Ben Hargis on Inertial Transfer for In-Space Assembly




This is Benjamin Hargis' third time interning with NASA, and this summer he is working on several different aspects in regards to In-Space Assembly. More specifically, he is diving deep into the concept of inertial transfer, the passing of an object from one manipulator to the next using the object's own inertia.

One of his main goals is to create a demonstration that incorporates all of the different concepts he and his colleagues have explored this summer.

Watch his Spotlight to learn more!

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

2019-08-06: Nicole Oman's Journey From Nature to Space


Nicole Oman
At the end of July, Nicole Oman will be a part of the Ai for a full year as an Administrative Assistant. After earning her degree in Outdoor Recreation from Northern Michigan University, she did not exactly go down the path she thought she was going to take.

"Life just happens, and sometimes you go in different directions," Nicole said.

After graduating, she began a job in the Newport News area, which led to a position as Administrative Assistant for Christopher Newport University.

After ten years of working for CNU, she decided to find a more career-focused occupation that satisfied her fascination with space exploration. As a result, Nicole is currently working as an Administration Assistant for our very own Autonomous Systems Branch (aka Autonomy Incubator) as well as for the Electromagnetics and Sensors Branch. Here at NASA LaRC, she found an environment that is moving forward in technology, challenges her thinking, and keeps her on her toes. From one branch to another, she can go from processing travel orders to getting approvals to buy hardware and software.

If there is anything to learn from Nicole Oman, its that you become invaluable when you're a creative problem solver and team player.

By NASA volunteer, Trayda Murakami

Monday, August 5, 2019

2019-08-05: Payton Heyman Exit Presentation Summer 2019


This summer, I made cartoons of interns, a video campaign, and hung out with more robots!

With this being my third internship here at the Ai, I had a lot of ideas and goals going into the summer. Watch and listen to my exit presentation, where I discuss the struggles and successes of this season.

2019-08-05: Liam Chapin on Building Software for In-Space Assembly


Liam Chapin is a student at Virginia Tech and a five time NASA intern. Over the years, he has worked on a plethora of robots for the In-Space Assembly project.