Earthrise Accomplishments

As a child, I was obsessed with space. I constantly asked questions about it, and when one was answered, I asked another. I remember my first time watching the space shuttle launch. After a second, I realized that the orange fireball shooting upwards was the shuttle itself. Since then, I have longed to work on something so amazing with a team that is able to accomplish so much. My sophomore year of high school, I began searching for an internship in the aerospace industry. Although I was told I had no chance since I was only fifteen, I refused to be dissuaded.

Through a friend, I was introduced to and interviewed by the head of the Business Incubator Program at the University of Central Florida. She referred me to an aerospace company called Earthrise Space Foundation and recommended to its owner that he offer me an internship. At the time, Earthrise was in the initial stages of competing in a twenty-million-dollar contest called the Google Lunar X Prize. The goal was to transport a Lunar rover to the moon, capture and transmit HD video back to Earth, and traverse a certain distance across the moon’s surface. I knew this would be the opportunity of a lifetime. Fortunately, Earthrise had just begun interviewing engineering students and degreed engineers for

Unfortunately, Earthrise’s need for security and my NDAs prohibit me from revealing significant details. Nevertheless, work there was nothing less than extraordinary. From researching and presenting ideas, to collaborating on projects and finding creative ways to solve problems, every day was an adventure. One of my favorite tasks was creating, rendering, and printing components for our lunar rover, Sagan, using SolidWorks, a 3D modeling software. In fact, I watched tutorial after tutorial to become proficient at the program. Fortunately, my time at Earthrise did not end with summer as I was invited to intern again the following