Right Ascension LLC’s Post

This time last year I was flying Cessnas over the Monterey CA coastline. The year before that, I was building a closed-loop water chiller for my laser cutter. This summer, I find myself conducting a test campaign on the plasma pressures of confined nichrome wire ionization for wires of varying lengths. The path of life is winding and out of our control. I have found, the best way to remedy this storm of the unexpected is to embrace whatever you find yourself doing and give it your all. Working at Longshot Space Technologies Corporation as an aerospace/mechanical engineering intern has been an incredible and very unexpected experience. I got an interview the week after Spring final exams, due to the recommendation of Dr. Maria Chierichetti, to whom I’m incredibly grateful. A last-minute change of summer plans landed me amongst some of the most brilliant and passionate engineers striving to accomplish the remarkable. Kinetic space launch systems seem like an idealistic, romantic science fiction concept ripped from the pages of Jules Verne. Which is why prior to working here, I thought the company name “Longshot Space” was quite apropos. However, after seeing the commitment of my coworkers firsthand, I have become fully convinced that not only will this concept become a reality, but it will make rockets seem like an outdated relic of a simple-minded past. Okay, maybe not fully. I mean, we still gotta get people up there… With only 3 weeks of internship left, I’m eager to express my gratitude to the dedicated team here at Longshot Space Technologies. I have learned so much about practical engineering problem-solving and many other skills I will forever keep in the ol’ repertoire. Given the opportunity, I am certainly eager to return to Longshot to finish what I started, but until then I’ll keep going where life takes me and working hard where I am. Check out the remarkable work happening here and the start of something huge: https://lnkd.in/g4Es3gGC

During my time at STAR as an Internship Trainee, I had the privilege to work with some industrial experts where I gathered knowledge on Space Flight Mechanics, Orbital Mechanics and a space flight simulator GMAT. Here's a detailed report on my experience and Project that me and my team have worked on during the last three months! In this report, I have covered everything about the internship, the concepts used, the procedure and the obtained data set.

I’m excited to share that this summer I’ll be interning at Sierra Space as a PhD Research Intern on their Ghost initiative 🚀 While neither Sierra Space nor an internship were originally on my radar for this summer, some great conversations with the leaders of the company piqued my interest. I found that not only are they currently working on several exciting projects that align well with my PhD research, but they are also developing several game-changing technologies that could make a huge impact in the space and defense industry in the coming years 🛰️ Even better, their high-level leadership and recruitment team took the time to schedule chats with me, discuss opportunities for mutually-beneficial work, understand my future plans, and tailor the internship to my needs to help make it feasible. Definitely a green flag for a workplace! My project, Ghost, is a state-of-the-art space delivery system engineered to safely return objects from space to precise locations on Earth. It uses a deployable decelerator (I think of it as an upside-down parachute 🪂 ) to guide its reentry, and the goal is to have it be able to deliver a payload to anywhere on Earth in 90 minutes or less. I’ll gain experience in using CFD on a real-world project and learn from some fantastic aerodynamicists and engineers. Here’s to a great summer in the space industry 🙌 ——————————————————————————— #intern #ghost #phd #space #sierraspace #engineering #aerospace

🌟 Exciting News! 🌟 I am thrilled to announce that I have successfully completed my 2-week In-plant training at the ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC)! 🚀 During this incredible journey, I had the opportunity to work alongside some of the brightest minds in the field of propulsion technology and space research. My training focused on the VIKAS engine, cryogenic and semi-cryogenic engines, various test stand facilities, liquid hydrogen production, various components in metrology, non-destructive testing apparatus, and safety and fire services. This allowed me to gain knowledge and deepen my understanding of the functions and applications of rocket components and parts. Some key takeaways from my training include: 🚀Understanding the intricacies of the VIKAS engine, including its design, assembly, and testing processes. 🚀Gaining insights into cryogenic and semi-cryogenic propulsion systems and their significance in space missions. 🚀Learning about the production and handling of liquid hydrogen, a critical component in cryogenic engines. 🚀Familiarizing myself with advanced metrology techniques used to ensure the precision and reliability of rocket components. 🚀Exploring various non-destructive testing methods to evaluate the integrity of materials and components without causing damage. 🚀Observing and understanding the importance of safety and fire services protocols in a high-risk environment. I also had the opportunity to explore various test facilities at IPRC, which include: 1.Engine Test Stands: Used for the static testing of liquid propulsion engines, providing valuable data on performance and reliability(MET,PTS,ATS,RCS) 2.Cryogenic Test Facilities: Specialized in testing engines and components that operate at extremely low temperatures, crucial for missions involving cryogenic fuels. 3.High Altitude Test Facilities: Simulate high-altitude conditions to test engine performance and reliability in space-like environments. A huge thank you to my mentors and colleagues at IPRC for their guidance and support throughout this internship. This experience has been truly transformative, and I am grateful for the knowledge and skills I have acquired. I am excited to apply what I have learned and continue my journey in the field of space research and propulsion technology. Here's to new adventures and endless possibilities! #ISRO #IPRC #Internship #PropulsionTechnology #SpaceResearch #CareerGrowth #NewBeginnings

Dear members, I’m excited to share a significant advancement from my final internship project with the Radioss team. 🎉 I worked on validating the non-local feature already integrated into Radioss. 🔗 You will find an article that i have created about this topic in altair community:  Technical Papers & Studies - Integration of non-local regularization into simulations. (altair.com) 💡 The non-local regularization is used to get mesh-independent results (size, orientation) in case of instabilities such as failure and/or thickness variation (for shells). 🔹 Why is this important ? Improve the reliability of ductile failure (plasticity dependent) prediction by reducing the mesh dependency ✅ The benefits: 🔹 Increased accuracy in failure prediction. 🔹 Flexibility in handling mesh variations. 🔹 Time savings of up to 90% in the calibration process. 🔹 Streamlined optimization of parameters with HyperStudy. #Radioss#altair

Here at UMS SKELDAR, we're very proud of our interns and their achievements. On Thursday last week, students Viktor and Max had a presentation of their thesis project about vibration health for our Aerostructure & Installation team. Here is a summary of what the thesis is about: Helicopter reliability and safety are paramount, especially in their operational use in civilian and military applications. This thesis introduces a method for monitoring helicopter vibration health by integrating flight state information into the configuration of an autoencoder-based anomaly detection model. Traditional approaches to vibration health monitoring in helicopters often categorize monitoring into specific operational ranges, such as hover and forward flight at different speeds. This thesis aims to enhance diagnostic capability by incorporating flight state data within these operational ranges. Our research addresses this gap by developing an autoencoder framework that integrates flight state data, thereby increasing the sensitivity and accuracy of fault detection. A data-driven approach is employed, training models on historical data. The anomaly detection model monitors vibration data alongside flight state parameters, such as airspeed and rotor controls, to predict faults in the main rotor system. The proposed model is trained and validated using unseen flight data, artificially modified with varying degrees of increased vibration. Results indicate that the flight-state-aware autoencoder can effectively generalize expected vibration levels during one flight regime and detect moderate increases in vibration levels as anomalies. We are deeply grateful for Viktor Erlandsson and Max Idermark's fresh perspectives and valuable contributions. Their collaboration this spring and insightful presentation has been truly inspiring to us. Also, thanks to their supervisor, Tony Holmlund-Olsson, and to Bertil Eronn for support. We wish Viktor and Max congratulations on your graduation and good luck! Are you a student interested in an internship at UMS SKELDAR? If so, connect with us by visiting the link below: https://lnkd.in/d8YNUF9i Your opportunity to gain first-hand insights into the exciting world of unmanned systems could be right around the corner.  #Thesisproject #Engineeringstudents #Internships #Joinus #Getintouch #Unmannedsystems

Yesterday I was presenting what we are doing in UNIVERSEH European University at a meeting we arranged with Mytikas – LTUs Association for rocket enthusiasts. I presented some of the space research we do at Product Innovation and also some opportunities that we have in UNIVERSEH regarding space related courses, internships, mobility and other events. Fun to see how the model rocket has developed since I played with them in the 80s. Adding an onboard flight logger so you can analyse your flight or simulating the design was not in my toolbox 40 years ago – we just built from schematics, tested and often failed;-) #LearnigfromFailure #RocketDesign

During my internship at NSTL-DRDO, I had the opportunity to do a project at the intersection of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Machine Learning. The focus was on integrating these technologies to create a predictive model for estimating drag on underwater bodies. This hands-on experience not only deepened my understanding of advanced fluid dynamics simulations but also allowed me to apply state-of-the-art machine-learning techniques to real-world challenges. I successfully completed the internship, gaining invaluable insights into the practical application of CFD and Machine Learning in the context of underwater systems. #NSTL #drdo

I recently wrapped up a summer internship at Sierra Space, and it was a fantastic experience. The vision and passion of the executive leadership team was the first thing to pull me towards the company. It was clear that this was not an old, slow-moving, low-risk company. Once I started working there, this continued to ring true as I saw everyone pushing the limits to get Dream Chaser to the launch pad and other spacecraft into operation. Also, my project on the Ghost reentry vehicle was fascinating, impactful, and directly related to my thesis topic of reentry simulations. In my 11 weeks, I was able to use wind tunnel test data and CFD to create an aerodynamics database. I then applied this database to a stability and control analysis of the vehicle to determine stability of the vehicle at different conditions throughout its trajectory. I was then able to conduct a plethora of CFD analyses. Our framework used the full Navier-Stokes equations, RANS turbulence modeling, Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR), and parallel computing on a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster. Gaining experience using industry standard codes (like Siemens StarCCM+) was a great complement to my academic studies. Some results included resolving a mismatch with the wind tunnel test on rudder effectiveness at high Mach, checking for scaling effects, and transitioning from low-Mach wind tunnel data to high-Mach inviscid CFD data for use in the aero database. As a bonus task, I also benchmarked a new aerothermal heating code, Cart3D plus (Scorch), with NASA’s gold-standard LAURA code. But the most useful thing I got out of the internship was a chance to connect with industry professionals and be a part of an innovative and disruptive aerospace company. This helped shape my career plans and my view of the aerospace industry. —————————————————————————— #Aerospace #Intern #EngineeringStudent

Our interns are taking flight—literally! Here’s a glimpse of the exciting projects they’re working on: 🛩️ Wings Aerodynamics Research: Redefining how wings cut through the air. 🎈 High-Altitude Balloon Satellite: A bold mission to tackle forest fires from above. ✈️RC Planes with Sensors: Monitoring air quality and weather like never before. At the Lab of Future, the next generation of scientists and engineers are turning bold ideas into real-world solutions. 📢 Stay tuned as they bring their projects to life! #LabofFuture #WinterInternship #ProjectsInAction #InnovationInAction #FutureEngineers