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aerospace engineer

Sky-High Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Aerospace Engineer & Deep Space and Missile Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin, Scott Shepherd [ep.6]

Sky-High Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Aerospace Engineer & Deep Space and Missle Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin, Scott Shepherd [ep.6]

aerospace engineer

Check out the full episode on Sky-High Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Aerospace Engineer & Deep Space and Missle Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin, Scott Shephers  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

All right, my Questies! We are continuing our adventure in outer space! Have you ever imagined what it would be like to be part of a team that builds a spacecraft that they get to send into outer space? That would be so cool to do! Did you know that there are people who collaborate to plan, design, and build spacecrafts? Aerospace engineers get to do this for their STEM career!

Today, we’re hearing from Scott Shepherd, who is an aerospace engineer with the role of a  Deep Space and Missile Senior Manager. Scott takes us on a journey showing us what it’s like to be an aerospace engineer who works on deep space projects, what led him to choose this STEM career, and so much more! This episode is filled with so many fun and exciting facts about aerospace engineers that I know you’re going to enjoy. Don't forget to join our STEM Career Quest Club so you can learn even more about what it’s like to be an aerospace engineer.

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Want more ways to enhance your podcast listening experience? 

Click HERE to join our STEM Career Quest Club!

Inside, you get access to 

  • a private community of other STEM Career Quest listeners
  • comprehension guides for each episode
  • teaching slides for each episode, where it is broken up into chunks so you can listen in smaller segments
  • related STEM activities you can complete with simple materials
  • one monthly virtual STEM field trip

And more!

aerospace engineer

 

Meet Scott Shepherd:

Scott was born in a suburb of Chicago but moved out to Colorado when he was 10. Always interested in space, he went to college for Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and started working at Lockheed Martin Space while still going to school. He stared by working on a Mars Orbiter, Odyssey, that is still flying around Mars today. He spent many years designing gimbals and mechanisms for satellites, then moved to operating satellites after they are launched into space. He is now a senior manager overseeing several teams that operate spacecraft and missiles. Some of the missions he gets to work with are the Hubble Space Telescope, Osiris-Rex, Lucy, Juno, and several military satellite and missile programs.

 

See an Aerospace Engineer & Deep Space and Missile Senior Manager in Action:

aerospace engineer
Mounting solar arrays to the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft.

Gif of the OSIRIS-Rex TAG getting a sample from the asteroid Bennu. The sample was recently returned to Earth and is being studied by scientists. Some of the samples are on display at the Smithsonian and University of Arizona.

aerospace engineer
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer (IUVS) is a spectrometer designed to measure and map characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars. The IUVS was designed and is operated by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

aerospace engineer

aerospace engineer
Deployment of science equipment on Mars from the InSight Lander.

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is an online K-5 STEM Coach in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there. 

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

Connect with the Host, Naomi Meredith:

More About The STEM Career Quest Podcast

Have you ever found yourself asking this question… “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Maybe you already have an answer to that, maybe you don’t.

Both are ok!

Welcome to the “STEM Career Quest” podcast! A show made for kids like you to help you build your dreams, or even find new ones, in science, technology, engineering and math. Each week, hear captivating stories and interviews to explore the exciting world of STEM. Oh! And grown-ups and teachers, you can listen too!

We’ll talk to experts in STEM who are passionate about what they do in the real-world and how they make a positive impact in their careers. Created and hosted by K-5 STEM Coach, Naomi Meredith, this show will spark your imagination and passions.

Join us each week on our quest to explore the possibilities of careers in STEM, one episode at a time.

spacecraft systems engineer

Blast Off with Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Spacecraft Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Jessica Kennedy [ep.5]

Blast Off with Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Spacecraft Systems Engineer at  Lockheed Martin, Jessica Kennedy [ep.5]

spacecraft systems engineer

Check out the full episode on Blast Off with Engineering: Behind the Scenes with Spacecraft Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin, Jessica Kennedy  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Hey, my little Questies! We are continuing our adventure in outer space, but this time with a twist. Did you know that the GPS app your parents use on their phones to get directions telling them where to go works because of special satellites in outer space? That’s right! There are satellites in outer space that orbit Earth to send signals to GPS devices so we can know how to go anywhere in the world. These satellites are built by a team of people who work together to test and code them and eventually send them into space. So, who does this much needed STEM career? 

In today’s episode, we will hear from Jessica Kennedy, a spacecraft systems engineer at Lockheed Martin. Jessica takes us on a journey through what it’s like to be a spacecraft systems engineer, the coolest part of her STEM career, and so much more. This episode is full of so many fun and exciting facts that I know Questies like you will enjoy! Don't forget to join our STEM Career Quest Club so you can learn even more about what it’s like to be a spacecraft systems engineer.

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Want more ways to enhance your podcast listening experience? 

Click HERE to join our STEM Career Quest Club!

Inside, you get access to 

  • a private community of other STEM Career Quest listeners
  • comprehension guides for each episode
  • teaching slides for each episode, where it is broken up into chunks so you can listen in smaller segments
  • related STEM activities you can complete with simple materials
  • one monthly virtual STEM field trip

And more!

spacecraft systems engineer

 

Meet Jessica Kennedy:

Hi there – I’m Jessica Kennedy; the mom of a first grader, preschooler, and 2 year old and I also get to work on Satellites! I’ve gotten to work on satellites that help the military, and GPS that your mom and dad use in their cars. My friends get to work on satellites that go to asteroids and Jupiter, as well as the Orion capsule that is going to take astronauts to do a moon fly-by next year and to land on the moon in December 2025. I’ve been able to build 3-D software fly-through models for the military, touch hardware on an test GPS spacecraft, be a manager of a systems engineering team, and work on proposals for future satellites.

I went to college at Nothern Arizona University and graduated with a degree in mathematics and one in psychology. I had an internship at Lockheed Martin and then decided to work there after I graduated. I started work and then got a Master's degree in Systems Engineering Mechatronics from the University of Denver that Lockheed Martin paid for. I've been working there for 16 years.

Connect with Jessica: 

See a Spacecraft Systems Engineer in Action:

spacecraft systems engineer

spacecraft systems engineer
A piece of spacecraft structure. The honeycomb pattern allows it to be strong while remaining light in weight (since that is an important consideration for launching it into space!)

spacecraft systems engineer

spacecraft systems engineer
Jessica Kennedy sharing about her role at Lockheed Martin at an elementary school STEM Career Day experience that the podcast host, Naomi Meredith, had put together.
spacecraft systems engineer
A piece of thermal blanket material (gold on the left), a scale model of MUOS (top) and an LEGO Orion Space Capsule (right)

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is an online K-5 STEM Coach in Colorado supporting elementary teachers world-wide navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there. With over a decade of experience teaching, 5 years teaching elementary STEM, along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM Certificate, Naomi helps teachers world-wide to navigate best practices, strategies and tools out there. 

She offers a variety of tools to help teachers feel successful teaching STEM to their elementary students through lesson plans, online courses, coaching and speaking events.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM, innovation and hands-on learning in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

Connect with the Host, Naomi Meredith:

More About The STEM Career Quest Podcast

Have you ever found yourself asking this question… “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Maybe you already have an answer to that, maybe you don’t.

Both are ok!

Welcome to the “STEM Career Quest” podcast! A show made for kids like you to help you build your dreams, or even find new ones, in science, technology, engineering and math. Each week, hear captivating stories and interviews to explore the exciting world of STEM. Oh! And grown-ups and teachers, you can listen too!

We’ll talk to experts in STEM who are passionate about what they do in the real-world and how they make a positive impact in their careers. Created and hosted by K-5 STEM Coach, Naomi Meredith, this show will spark your imagination and passions.

Join us each week on our quest to explore the possibilities of careers in STEM, one episode at a time.