Phoebe is a rising senior majoring in Planetary Science with a minor in Global Liberal Arts Studies at Purdue University. She is interested in planetary geology and has worked on an undergraduate research project for two semesters at Purdue, where she used JMARS computer software to map the large fracture networks of Mawrth Vallis, Mars, for the European Space Agency. The resulting data was used to help inform ESA’s landing site selection for their ExoMars science rover. In the summer of 2018, she participated in a communications study abroad in Heidelberg, Germany, where she took both Intercultural Communications and Judgement & Decision-Making courses and traveled to Strasbourg, Paris, and Berlin. This exposure to communication differences across countries, along with the completion of international relations coursework for her minor, sparked Phoebe’s interests in domestic and international science policy. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing and recording music videos for her YouTube channel, youtube.com/phoebesings. Phoebe is thrilled to intern at the Space Studies Board and is excited to gain an understanding of the variety of governmental interests that guide space studies and exploration. In the future, she hopes to use the knowledge she acquires at the Board to help foster understanding between scientists, politicians, and the public and work towards her goal of becoming an astronaut on Mars.
Reflection: I had been to Washington, DC twice before this summer — once when I was nine, and briefly when I was a senior in high school. However, those trips pale in comparison to the two months I spent living in the city and interning at the National Academy of Sciences. Just two weeks after starting work, I was walking across the National Mall, heading to a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council at NASA Headquarters. My days were often filled with exciting events like this. I found myself attending the annual Science in Japan event at the Cosmos Club, the Space Weather Enterprise Forum at the Department of the Interior, and a Space Diplomacy event at George Washington University, where I got to hear both Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin speak. I was also lucky enough to be in DC for the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, and it was so exciting to see the city’s celebrations. I was able to sit in on a Senate hearing that included testimonials from Gene Kranz (Flight Director of Apollo 11) and Dr. Christine Darden (mathematician and aeronautical engineer at NASA) and even spoke to them afterwards!
When I wasn’t attending meetings and events around the city, I was assisting the Space Studies Board in their day-to-day activities. One big project I worked on was a new report detailing the process of how a decadal survey is completed. I went through various decadals the SSB had produced from the 1980s to present day, and documented what happened to recommended space projects (like ground and space telescopes, satellites, and science initiatives) decade to decade. I also worked on a report about hazardous asteroids released by the Committee on Near-Earth Object Observations. I collected additional information from authors to create a reference page and worked to obtain image and figure permissions.
However, one of the most exciting parts of this internship was attending the meeting of the Committee on the Review of Progress Toward Implementing the Decadal Survey-Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. I spent the last week of work at the Jonsson Center in Quissett Harbor, sitting in on the meeting and getting to experience what writing a decadal survey is like (lots of editing!). Like with the hazardous asteroids paper, one of my tasks was to make sure citations of the paper were correctly formatted. The area around the center is beautiful, and we even got some time to walk around nearby Falmouth and watch the boats pull in to the harbor. The committee members were all so friendly and knowledgable, and I can’t thank them enough for welcoming me.
I would sincerely like to thank everyone at the Space Studies Board and the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board for giving me an incredible experience in Washington, DC. The staff was always incredibly friendly and so eager to teach me more about what they do. This internship afforded me valuable opportunities to learn about how space policy is created and managed on a governmental level, and I am excited to use this knowledge in some of my studies when I return to Purdue in the fall. Thank you all for a wonderful summer!