Enterprise In Space and SpaceWorks Partner to
Provide the Opportunity with ASTRO Program
SpaceWorks Enterprises, Inc. hosted a summer program specifically geared for high school students, challenging them to design the NSS Enterprise spacecraft envisioned by Enterprise In Space (EIS), a non-profit program of the National Space Society (NSS). The students had access to numerous resources, including the expertise of SpaceWorks and EIS staff. After completion of their project, the team presented their proposed design, budget, and methods of atmospheric re-entry to SpaceWorks, EIS, teachers, and parents.
The SpaceWorks program is called ASTRO, or Aerospace Summer Training & Research Opportunity, a project-oriented experience during which participants work in teams to solve an aerospace engineering design problem. This wasTeam 8, consisting of six students, and their session started in early June.
“ASTRO has been a wonderful way for SpaceWorks to see first-hand the potential that high school students in our community have to offer. We thoroughly enjoy working with the students and look forward each summer to the amazing ideas they come up with. Partnering with EIS for ASTRO this year has been a great experience for both us and the Team 8 students. Team 8 has been inspired by the work of EIS and they are genuinely honored to be part of the NSS Enterprise design process,” says Ashley Russ, Director of the ASTRO Program for SpaceWorks.
It was a tough challenge! The NSS Enterprise must be designed to carry a minimum of 100 student experiments, survive its launch into space aboard a rocket or space plane and its return to Earth. It must also be able to communicate results of some experiments from space as well as protect those experiments whose results can only be obtained once returned safely to Earth. Avionics, communications, structures, and all the engineering disciplines had to be considered.
Adding the liberal arts into the mix, some Team 8 members prepared artistic designs that can be used for promotion by the EIS team. EIS values the Arts portion of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM) education.
Bill Miller, the CEO of Deep Space Industries, another EIS partner, stopped by SpaceWorks to lend his expertise to help students to understand some of the NSS Enterprise systems. He discussed DSI’s Comet water-based thruster for possible use in orbital maneuvering of the NSS Enterprise. About the students, Bill said, “I was incredibly impressed with the knowledge and enthusiasm of these students. They are entering the space industry at perhaps the most exciting time in our history, and will have the opportunity to make a significant difference in how humans move beyond the confines of our fragile planet.”
“We are all thrilled that SpaceWorks has selected Enterprise In Space for the ASTRO program. It’s great to see the students take on the challenge and to see the interest and excitement they have shown in going into aerospace careers,” said Shawn Case, EIS founder. “May they succeed in their future endeavors and become the aerospace engineers and astronauts that take us to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. I would also like to express my gratitude to SpaceWorks for all of the kind assistance they have donated to the Enterprise In Space program.”
SpaceWorks Enterprises has been a member of the EIS team since 2015 and looks forward to what the future will bring for the EIS orbiter. “I am pleased to have the SpaceWorks ASTRO program among our partners and sponsors. EIS fundraising is underway and if you are interested in helping NSS/EIS carry out our mission of educating the workforce of tomorrow, we’d love to add you to our team,” says Alice Hoffman, NSS President and EIS Program Manager.
