First light — Earth imaged from low Earth orbit by the camera module (via @Peter_J_Beck).
Overview
As an integration & test engineering intern at Rocket Lab, I designed the thermal, mechanical, and electrical systems for the camera module of the Pioneer spacecraft series in Siemens NX, then carried it through validation and onto the vehicle.
What I did
- Designed the camera module's thermal, mechanical, and electrical systems in Siemens NX.
- Fabricated a test harness for hardware and software validation on the hardware-in-the-loop rack ahead of vehicle integration.
- Took the sub-system from inception to design review in under six weeks, and integrated it onto the spacecraft in under eight.
Outcome
The camera became operational in low Earth orbit and has returned imagery of Earth from the Pioneer vehicle — including the shot above, shared publicly by Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck.