Hey everyone! My name is Zoe Zlatic, I’m a junior studying Astronautical Engineering, and I’m from St. Louis, MO.
This summer, I interned at Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park, Texas (~45 minutes north of Austin). I worked in the Mechanical Engineering department on the Unpressurized Structures team.
Firefly was my first internship, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. My manager was fantastic, and I got valuable engineering experience in design, analysis, manufacturing, and test.
My intern project was a secondary structures qualification test for the Alpha launch vehicle, which included component identification and selection, engineering drawing generation, coupon manufacturing, test execution, and documentation. I got to work with and learn from many talented engineers, collaborate with other interns, spend time on the production floor, and gain hands-on experience in all of the main facets of engineering.
Some other cool things I did at work were: meeting Carlos García-Galán, NASA’s Moon Base Program Manager (see photo below), seeing multiple hotfires of two of Firefly’s engines, pottery making with the Mechanical Engineering team, and seeing a) Firefly’s next Blue Ghost mission being assembled in the clean room, and b) the Mission Operations Control room where the team commanded Blue Ghost Mission 1 (and were the first to witness its successful and record-setting landing on the moon).
It was an awesome summer, and I’m eternally grateful to have had this experience and to have worked with the incredible engineering team at Firefly.
Outside of work, I sidequested. A LOT. Here’s some of the things I did:
Cabo Bob’s
Some other interns and I quickly developed an affinity for a local Texas chain that makes THE BEST burritos in the universe.
Hiking
That same Cabo Bob’s group decided to venture on an 11 mile hike through one of Texas’ state parks.
Exploring downtown Austin
I visited downtown Austin multiple times, going kayaking on Lady Bird Lake, exploring Zilker Park, eating rolled ice cream from a local place, and taking a dip in the Barton Springs Pool, a popular natural cold spring with an incredible view of downtown.
Rock climbing
I went rock climbing with other interns! It was fun, and I was challenged on some harder climbs.
Sand volleyball
I don’t have any photos from this one, but I joined a Firefly sand volleyball team and we played every Thursday night (in beating sun, aggressive rain, and perfect Texas summer nighttime weather). I looked forward to it every week.
This was one of my best summers yet. I learned a ton, met some of the most brilliant and passionate individuals, and explored my heart out.
It’s now back to LA for the junior year grind to commence. Onwards and upwards, and Fight On!
