Amy Huynh and Douglas Chin each reflect on their summer experiences as 2020 Matthew Isakowitz Fellows interning at Astra, whose mission is “to launch a new generation of space services to observe, connect and improve life on earth.” The company is currently gearing up to launch its Rocket 3.1 vehicle into orbit from Alaska, sometime between August 2-7, 2020.
2020 Matthew Isakowitz Fellows Douglas Chin and Amy Huynh.
AMY HUYNH:
Never in my life did I think I would be working on rockets during a pandemic, but that’s been my 2020 summer at Astra.
I first learned about aerospace in middle school when we built model rockets in technology class. There was something insanely satisfying about building a rocket yourself and seeing this little work of art launch so high up in the air. Seeing everyone’s rockets launch one by one was immensely exciting each time. How high was it going to go? Was it going to end in an awesome explosion? Was it going to go berserk in all directions except straight up? Would it be obliterated to pieces in landing?
The successful launches were inspiring, though I admit—with the low stakes of a middle school class—the failures were definitely the more interesting launches. Occasionally, I would notice that I was one of three female students in a class of thirty, but that didn’t change how much I loved the class and rocketry. Watching October Sky in class made me realize that this was a field that I could belong in no matter what. I just needed to have the drive and passion in me to pursue it.
Going through the endless grind of college with increasingly difficult classes and time-consuming senior design projects and extracurriculars, it can be easy to lose sight of why I chose to become an aerospace engineer. What gets me through those times of intense self-doubt and Impostor Syndrome is reigniting that inspiration from middle school. It’s driving with friends for hours to the middle of nowhere just to launch our rockets. It’s flying to Texas for the AIAA CanSat Competition to see engineering students from all over the world come together to launch rockets carrying the payloads we poured our hearts and souls into building.
It’s looking up to the stars and breathing in the peaceful night that allows me to find a sense of belonging and serenity when everything else feels chaotic. It’s knowing how insignificant I am in this whole universe I see up there, yet having the fortune to be here, to be alive and pursue my dreams, to enable others to see the beauty of our world and our place among the stars. It’s knowing my parents immigrated to America and dedicated their lives for me to have the opportunity to go to college, to do what my heart desires, and to find my purpose in this world. That is what keeps me going.
During my professional career so far, I’ve interned on projects for exoplanet detection, in-space manufacturing, and small satellites, but never worked on rockets before, which was what got me in the field in the first place. Being at Astra has let me touch, test, and design hardware for an actual rocket that will help shape the future of the aerospace industry. I’ve been able to use my hands to create the diagrams from my fluid mechanics classes and understand how they actually work (or sometimes don’t work) in application. I’ve never even heard of what a quick disconnect was before, but now I’m learning everything I can to develop solutions for a new quick disconnect design. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work here in-person this summer and to witness our upcoming rocket launch.
The Astra team posing with Rocket 3.1 before shipping it off to Kodiak, Alaska for its first orbital launch attempt.
Being on the Upper Stage Structures team, everyone has been extremely helpful and supportive of me. I’m treated like a real employee who can contribute to the company’s mission and have autonomy over my own projects. My team inspires me every day to become the best aerospace engineer that I can be. It is especially inspiring to have a boss like Danielle Mitrak, a young, female engineer who is incredibly smart and talented at her job and at being a leader. I cannot emphasize enough how important it has been for me to grow as an engineer by being able to have a supportive mentor like her and to have someone I aspire to be like.
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program (MIFP) also matched me with Anita Sengupta as a formal mentor, which has been an incredible experience. I have admired her since the beginning of my college career and it feels crazy that she is now someone I can reach out to when I need advice about my aerospace career or life in general. Having Danielle and Anita as my mentors this year has helped me grow into the engineer and person that I want to be as I’ve learned to be more confident and to find my voice. Although it’s still a work-in-progress, I am thankful to have the support of my mentors and MIFP family.
At the virtual Summit, all of the MIFP Fellows got the chance to talk with people who have literally changed the industry and get advice for how we can follow in the footsteps of these aerospace giants. All of the MIFP Fellows are so passionate and knowledgeable about the aerospace industry and that motivates me all the time to become a better engineer and to become more involved with all aspects of aerospace from the technical side to space policy, business operations, and entrepreneurship. Being a first-generation college student, I never imagined I would be where I am now with a whole network of Fellows working all over the aerospace industry. Now, I can only imagine big dreams ahead of shaping the future of aerospace and holding onto Matthew’s legacy together.
It can be hard and scary to navigate the aerospace industry as a student when it seems like everyone else is so experienced and knowledgeable about the field. The gender ratio also never changed from my middle school class to my college classes or experiences in the aerospace industry, so I had to learn to accept that would be the reality of my professional aerospace career. However, that encourages me to work hard to create diversity and inclusion in aerospace to make the field more accessible for the next generation of engineers after me. It is extremely reassuring knowing that my MIFP Fellows and Astra team are there to support me and help me discover my place in aerospace, just like how Matthew was able to find his. Per aspera ad astra.
DOUGLAS CHIN:
Being a part of the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship and interning at Astra has been an inspiring experience. I, like so many others, dream of humans moving beyond the cradle of Earth out to the stars, where I believe our fully actualized future lies. Growing up, I saw this vision in optimistic science fiction like Star Trek and decided to spend my life in the service of humanity through helping it become an interstellar species. Those in the Fellowship and at Astra are working to make this a reality, and I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.
The Fellowship has been a fantastic community that is truly optimistic about the future of space. In addition to talking to other Fellows about exciting current events, I’ve greatly enjoyed discussions with my mentor, Joe Landon, through whom I’ve gotten a better glimpse at what it actually means to be in the space business.
From my experience tracking and calculating the orbit of a near-Earth asteroid at the Summer Science Program to having my software run on small satellites in the International Space Station through the Zero Robotics competition, I’ve been able to see and “touch” space. As a member (and former president) of the Princeton Rocketry Club, I’ve had the opportunity to design and build a few rockets. Leading vehicle design and manufacturing on a 10-foot tall, 50-pound rocket with 9,000 Newtons of impulse and its successful flight and recovery from 10,700 feet remains the highlight of my experiences there.
Interning at Astra, however, has been the ignition of another stage in my training as an aerospace engineer—it is a totally different world than schoolwork or amateur rocketry, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to begin the process of learning anew. The agility and scrappiness of Astra make it a great place to learn how to make a rocket, and the fact that everyone is willing to explain how it all works has made the experience eye-opening.
At Astra, I got to touch (and even put some rivets in) an orbital-class rocket (Godspeed Rocket 3.1!), and I am designing parts that will (hopefully) fly past the Karman line on future vehicles. For me, there could be no better launching point into the industry that has represented—and will continue to represent—the hope of humanity.
MIFP meet-up! Amy and Douglas with 2020 Fellow Jonathan Li, who is interning at Astranis this summer.