TexasRocketLab

Eventually, I want to do something that will benefit humanity as a whole. I've talked a lot about being an astronaut for a long time, but the work they're doing is ultimately to help us understand more about our world and our universe, and to find out what we can be doing better down here.

I'd love to work at NASA, but private industry would be pretty great too! I'm really enjoying my work right now at Firefly Aerospace, which is a small space launch vehicle company right outside of Austin. I've already gotten to do some really cool stuff there (which I can't go into too much detail about—ITAR regulations!)

Cool to hear that you're from the area! I'm really missing those Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits and the food on Guad in quarantine right about now.

My first launch was amazing. We worked on a rocket all semester with the Longhorn Rocketry Association, and over the summer we watched it go up, watched the parachutes deploy and the rocket safely return to the ground. It was such a cool experience and I can't wait to start launching bigger vehicles with TREL!

The shuttle program and the Apollo program inspired so many people around the world to try new things and to push the limits of the human experience. I think that really influenced me when I was young. It's such a unique field and I was really excited to be a part of something like that!

WARP DRIVE, of course!

I think a big limitation of space travel right now isn't necessarily the technology or the spacecraft, but more about how humans will be able to withstand extended travel in space. Things like how will our vision and bone density hold up are important questions. If we could engineer something that would move us fast enough to avoid long-term space travel, but still be able to explore other places in the galaxy, I think that would be the biggest game-changer!

As much as I want it to happen, I do not think space tourism will be as available as a skiing trip or a Disney World vacation within the next century. Right now, it seems like the industry has a pretty good handle on rockets. Companies like SpaceX and Rocket Lab have proved that we can put things in space reliably, so I do not think this will be the limiting factor. It is the other infrastructure that still needs much more time to develop. For example, there are a lot of improvements that still need to be made to environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS). The first crew lived on the ISS 20 years ago, and there are still issues with removing CO2 from the air. As much as I love rockets, they are only a small piece of the puzzle. We have got a lot of work ahead us in supporting life for the masses in space.