The Overview — Frontier
Fueling the next generation of aerospace engineers
Frontier
The boundary of what is known and the beginning of what is yet to be discovered or achieved, it marks the furthest reach of collective exploration.
Welcome back to The Overview! This edition celebrates the pioneering spirit that drives us to the boundaries of exploration. We’ve got an exciting deck for you this week:
🤖 Embark on a journey with Maggie as she explores the fascinating world of robot autonomy.
👥 Join Mark as he unveils stories about the world of internships that reveal insights on the infamous question, “How’d you land that?”
🌑 ICYMI, relive the awe-inspiring moment of the recent solar eclipse that captivated millions.
💼 Open fall NASA internship applications!
🚀 Featured Technology
Robot Autonomy: The Next Frontier
We live in an unprecedented age of exploration, where humans will return to the moon, venture to Mars, and someday travel far beyond. Robots will continue to play a pivotal role in these endeavors, assisting in exploring distant worlds. The capability of robots to be autonomous is critical, especially when direct human oversight is difficult or impossible.
In this article, join Maggie as she explores the following:
Why robot autonomy is so cool ✨
Why robot autonomy is important now ⏱️
Some of the basics of robot autonomy, including perception, state estimation, planning, and controls 🧠
Cool robotics industry and research applications 🤖
Stewardship and collective responsibility of robot autonomy in our society 👯
We want to highlight the excitement and potential of robot autonomy and show how you can get involved. Whether you're a student, educator, professional, or simply a curious mind, join us on this journey and read the full article here:
🗞️ Aerospace News
In case you missed it, this week, North America saw a total solar eclipse, the only one for the next 20 years. I’m guessing all of you aerospace enthusiasts know what a total solar eclipse is, but it’s when the moon is close enough to the Earth and aligns just perfectly with the position of the sun to totally block the sun from the Earth’s point of view. The path of the solar eclipse passed over many major population centers in the USA, Mexico, and Canada, and millions of people had the chance to view this rare event.
In other news, a legendary rocket built by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), the Delta IV Heavy, launched for the final time ever on April 9, 2024. The Delta IV Heavy launched 16 times over the past 20 years and was a reliable ride to space for large payloads. At one point in time, it was the most powerful rocket in operation until beat out by several rockets, including the Falcon Heavy and SLS. It was also the first rocket that Tagg ever got to watch liftoff in person 🤓. Read more here.
👥 Personal Experiences
How’d you land that?!? Part 1
The internship hunt is a grueling and demoralizing time for any engineering student. Fortunately for us, this chaotic time can also lead to some of the most unique, lucky, and downright craziest experiences in aerospace. So, keep your motivation and spirits up with some stories from Mark and others covering:
Shamelessly annoying the CEO into a job
Securing an internship without an interview (or boss!)
Are there morals to these stories? Probably. Guess you’ll have to read to find out! And just like the title of our article suggests, this is only the first part, and there is more to come in our next issue. So, buckle up and read the full article here:
🔗 Links to Resources
Are you dying to land that NASA internship? Good news, we’ve got just the link for you. Here are several NASA internships still open for the fall that NASA wants to fill.
💬 Quote of the Week
“Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space.” — Christa McAullife
Thanks for reading The Overview—The Frontier edition. Stay tuned to our newsletter as we bring you the latest aerospace news, advice, and technology.
We'd love to hear your voices. If you have any crazy stories, fun technical content, or cool experiences you'd like to write about, shoot us an email at admin@theoverview.org!
Stellar vibes,
Mark, Tagg, Anshuk, Maggie, Isaac