I can’t believe my time in Colorado is over half way gone. I’ve been at Ball for six weeks now and only have four weeks left.

Lately I’ve been working on a solar array sizing program. I never really liked programming before, but actually applying it to things that I’m interested in is actually pretty cool. In the program, you input the power loads (how much power the instruments need) and some other information which is specific to the satellite such as orbit altitude, and what you want to make your solar array and batteries out of. Then it spits out answers like how big your solar array needs to be, how many batteries are required and the eclipse and sunlight exposure times. I’m still working out a few final input error checks and the form the user fills out, but I’m excited to see my final product!

There are several other aerospace companies in the area and the intern coordinators organized a bowling night for all of us. So interns from Lockheed Martin, ULA and Ball, had a fun night together. I have no idea who ultimately won, but I scored higher than 100 and that was awesome for me.

My team’s payloads for the rocket are right on schedule, which makes our lives so much less stressful. I was talking to our mentor for the project and we was telling us that although it was a much simplified process, that the steps we went through with the designing, and communicating with the ULA interns was exactly what we would have to do after we graduate. This week we made mass simulating payloads for ULA to use to test their rocket, and next week we go back to their facilities to integrate our units into theirs. I’ll let you know how it goes!