Internship Spotlight - Samuel Barker


	From:	Bountiful, UT
	Major:	Technology Management
	Company:	NASA
	Location:	Cleveland, OH

If you've never heard of JIMO, niobium-zirconium, or hastelloy-x...don't worry - most people haven't. Sam noticed that people got bored quickly hearing about his internship, so he simply started telling them, "Basically, I make space travel to Jupiter possible and meet with astronauts."

When Sam was younger, he became interested in how machines work and wanted to get a car he could take apart and fix again. "Unfortunately, I couldn't drive yet and had no place to put a car anyhow, so it was out of the question," he said.

Bicycles, on the other hand, he could operate and accomodate. "I went to the dump and found what bikes I could and brought them home to work on," Sam said.

While working on the bikes, Sam noticed that certain materials enhanced the bikes in different ways. "I had heard of companies manufacturing bikes with aluminum and carbon fiber frames, and wanted to know why these materials were better," he said.

Sam works with machinery NASA was able to answer that question for Sam and teach him much more. Because of its prestige and level of technicality, Sam said, "I always thought NASA was out of my league."

Sam's mentor was in charge of refractory metals, which have a melting temperature of 2000 degrees Celsius or higher (that's about 3600 degrees Fahrenheit). Sam and his team tested these metals for use with JIMO (the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter). "We tested niobium-zirconium under various conditions to see if it would take on particles or elements from hastelloy-x, a nickel-based metal," he explained.

His mentor also belonged to a team assigned to solve the problem that caused the Columbia space shuttle disaster. "A piece of foam from the rocket booster fell off during take-off and damaged the leading edge of the wing," Sam said, "and upon re-entry, the inner aluminum wing structure melted because that leading edge of the wing wasn't there to protect it."

Sam stands next to machinery he worked with The team worked on developing a patch to repair damaged parts while in orbit. "It's kind of like patching a bike tube, just with high-tech materials," Sam said. Those high-tech materials are a ceramic paste and mesh frame made of refractory metals. "The mesh frame would be placed over the damaged area, covered with the paste, and then heated by the sun until it hardened and bonded to the surface," he said.

"I enjoyed being one of the few Mormons out there in Cleveland," he said. Sam was one of two members among the 120 interns. "I had many opportunities to teach people about the Church, and visited a number of Church historical sites in the area. That was one of my favorite parts!"

Working with real scientists, and seeing how NASA operates was great, Sam says, but "the hands-on experience with their machinery was the biggest advantage my internship gave me." Sam loved his experience and will intern with NASA again next summer. "It was exactly what I needed. It was the best internship for my major."