Sierra Space’s Human Systems Integration team focuses on making sure that each component of the Orbital Reef space station is catered to the unique and complex needs of their customers.

As an integration intern, I performed an astronaut task analysis to determine what equipment and facilities astronauts will need on-board the Orbital Reef space station. This was done to help allocate required resources and to help plan for operational requirements from launch to eventual retirement. In this capacity, attention-to-detail is a requirement because without it oversights can cost crew comfort, safety, and mission-critical resources.

Before any human-rated spacecraft can be launched, it must first prove itself safe. This is done by adhering to the NASA Space Flight Human-System Standard Volumes and the Human Integration Design Handbook. These standards are the basis of requirements for the human integration subsystem of Orbital Reef, which I helped develop as part of my internship. Because the standards are designed to be generalized to apply to all human-rated spacecraft, I worked with my team to adapt these requirements to Orbital Reef’s specific mission objectives. For example, the anthropometric requirements for Orbital Reef will not be identical to the NASA standards, as Orbital Reef is being designed to cater to a wider range of human users as part of its mission to create greater space accessibility.

One of the final tasks I had during my internship was to create a Concept of Operations for the deployment of the LIFE module. This proved to be an excellent opportunity to use creativity and critical thinking skills as my teammate and I brainstormed how astronauts would ingress into the module, take out and set up the required components, and eventually get to a fully operational status.

This opportunity made me appreciate how collaboration, ingenuity, and critical thinking are shaping the future of the aerospace industry.