NASA interns supported U.S. Deorbit Vehicle work, 2020-2024

Daniel Cohen started at NASA as a flight operations intern in 2020 and became a full-time engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in August 2024. Rice University student Malvika Bhardwaj interned with the GN&C team on work connected to the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle.

Interns contribute to agency projects through NASA's Office of STEM Engagement. Malvika Bhardwaj, a Rice University student studying computational and applied mathematics, interned with the GN&C team. That team works on how spacecraft determine position and maneuver in orbit.

Bhardwaj completed her first project, a set of analysis tools built from scratch. She was building tools to examine thruster firings for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle and used simulations to check the vehicle's control system.

Failure conditions for the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle are identified.

The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle will support NASA's safe deorbit of the International Space Station, and the station will be deorbited when its operational life ends.

Daniel Cohen is a GN&C engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He is a Rice University alumnus with a master's in mechanical engineering.

Cohen started at NASA as a flight operations intern in 2020, held internships in docking dynamics, propulsion systems and GN&C analysis, and joined Johnson as a full-time engineer in August 2024.

Cohen builds simulations and models for U.S. Deorbit Vehicle studies, where control algorithms and GN&C performance are analyzed. He teaches interns orbital mechanics and control systems for a couple of hours each week.

A SpaceX design has been evaluated at multiple life-cycle reviews, and Orion docking camera settings are analyzed.

The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle is tied to NASA's plan to bring the International Space Station out of orbit safely, and GN&C work directly affects how the vehicle determines its position and maneuvers.

The facts show interns doing technical work on that vehicle, including building analysis tools and running simulations in work where failure conditions are identified. Cohen's move from intern to full-time GN&C engineer and his weekly teaching are additional examples of intern involvement in this work.

Analysis related to Orion's docking camera is relevant to Artemis because the camera can provide positioning measurements that help inform navigation during future rendezvous activities.

The U.S. Deorbit Vehicle will support NASA's safe deorbit of the International Space Station, and the station will be deorbited when its operational life ends.

Positioning measurements from Orion's docking camera can help inform navigation during future Artemis rendezvous activities.