Jones, a Benton native who is set to graduate in May 2027, worked in the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate as a systems safety intern. Her primary role involved reviewing risk management processes and conducting a gap analysis to ensure Stennis Space Center鈥檚 documentation aligned with updated agency-wide requirements.

鈥淭he report I created ended up being 31 pages long, detailing updates and processes for risk management at Stennis Space Center,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淢y favorite part was interviewing representatives from each organization and seeing how they each handle different types of risks, from rocket propulsion testing to audits.鈥�

Beyond her project, Jones toured historic facilities, including the Apollo-era B-complex test stands, and the Michoud Assembly Center, where they assemble large pieces of rockets and is also a popular site for movie filming. 

She also visited the Marshall Space Flight Center, where she met astronaut Charlie Duke, the 10^th man on the moon, and toured the International Space Station payload operations center. She even witnessed a live RS-25 rocket engine test for the Artemis mission that will return Americans to the moon.

鈥淭he RS-25 rocket engine is what will take us back to the moon as part of the Artemis mission,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭he test was so loud and strong that you could feel it. It was one of the coolest experiences ever.鈥�

For Jones, interning at NASA was the realization of a childhood dream.

鈥淚n middle school, I used to read NASA articles during lunch,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was always a dream to work here, an end goal for my future career. Now it feels less like an end goal and more like a steppingstone toward what鈥檚 next in the aerospace industry.鈥�

Jones secured the internship through the 鈥檚 Workforce Development Award, which supports Arkansas students pursuing aerospace-related opportunities. She hopes for the chance to intern with NASA again in the future.

Back at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, Jones continues her research with Dr. Shweta Dabetwar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, in the Materials Intelligence and Prognostics Laboratory, where she studies damage detection in composite materials using artificial intelligence. She is also involved in the Aerospace Club, where she leads STEM outreach activities, from model rocketry to the mobile planetarium, and Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.

鈥淭his internship gave me a whole new perspective on risk management and safety in engineering,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to think about how these experiences will prepare me for the future.鈥�

The post 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Graduate Student Gains Out-of-This-World Experience at NASA appeared first on News.

Knight, a native of Little Rock and member of the Donaghey Scholars Honors Program, worked in NASA鈥檚 Technology, Innovation, and Research Office (TIRO), where he researched applications for large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT.

His research focused on creating a searchable database of decades-old, scanned files. He also researched technologies that, long term, will give astronauts a way to access knowledge about tools and systems when live communication with Earth isn鈥檛 possible, like during missions to Mars.

鈥淐ommunications with Mars can take a minimum of , so astronauts going to Mars wouldn鈥檛 be able to have live chats with NASA,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淭he idea is to use AI to create a system that can handle databases of knowledge about specific tools that astronauts will handle when they are traveling far away from Earth. This system will make it easier for the astronauts to quickly search through all of this information.鈥�

Beyond the lab, Knight鈥檚 experience included witnessing rocket engine tests, touring NASA facilities, and even visiting one of the International Space Station鈥檚 control rooms at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. But the highlight, he said, was the community he found among his fellow NASA interns.

鈥淭here were 12 of us, and we became like a family,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淲e still text regularly. That bond, along with seeing an engine test up close, which is like experiencing an earthquake, made the summer unforgettable.鈥�

For Knight, the internship also sparked a new academic passion. A programmer since age eight, he had previously avoided working with AI but found his work at NASA to be transformative.

鈥淭his was my first deep dive into AI, and now I鈥檓 looking for ways to continue researching it here at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an exciting field, especially with how it intersects with the aerospace industry.鈥�

Knight credits Dr. Constance Meadors of the for helping him get this internship as well as his mentors inTIRO, Dr. Schmalzel and Dr. Krell, for helping him seize the opportunity to learn so much over the summer. Working at NASA was the fulfillment of a childhood dream for Knight.

鈥淢y dad is the biggest space nerd I know,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淗e taught me the names of the planets when I was three. My grandpa was an engineer, and I鈥檝e always known I wanted to be an engineer,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淲orking for such a historical agency is a massive privilege, and I am happy to have done that this summer. With the recent boom in space technology and a new age of space exploration ahead of us, I do want to go into the aerospace industry.鈥�

Knight, who also serves as vice president of the Aerospace Club at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, will graduate in May 2026 and plans to pursue a career in the aerospace industry or attend graduate school.

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