Axiom Space Internship

Overview

In summer of 2025, I interned for 12 weeks with the spacesuit systems engineering team at Axiom Space. During that time, I worked on two projects – flight software requirements for the heart rate monitor and lifecycle qualification testing for the integrated suit.

On the requirements side, I was designated the primary systems engineer and put in charge of a formal Jama review process for the spacesuit heart rate monitor’s software requirements. During this process, I worked closely with the primary software engineer to develop a full set of software requirements that she then utilized to write the flight software.

My main project, however, was on the verification & validation side, designing lifecycle qualification tests that will be used to verify the operational lifecycle of the integrated suit as well as the flight support equipment (geology tools, umbilicals, etc.).

In order to accomplish this, I had to design a test circuit to be as representative as possible of all nominal (and off-nominal) tasks occurring during a lunar EVA. Based on this, I wrote up a detailed test plan and test procedure. Then, I coordinated with an array of engineers / test support personnel to prepare all of the hardware, GSE, & logistics required for test execution.

In the end, I was able to execute three manned, pressurized runs of my lifecycle test circuits, for which I served as the TC (Test Conductor). Since my test circuits took over 5 hours to complete, I had to make decisions on-the-fly to work within time constraints, choose which tasks to prioritize, and deal with issues that arose. Despite the challenges, however, I was eventually able to get all of the data I needed to finish refining my test circuits & test procedure. Using this data, I also created a python tool to dramatically improve the cycle counting process that will used during lifecycle qualification testing.

Conducting my spacesuit lifecycle test at the Axiom Suit Test Lab