Student Voice: My Experience with Capitol's Autonomous Ground Systems Course (AE350) and the S.F.O.T.C.

Sarah Sharpe, a senior Astronautical Engineering major, wrote the following reflection on her experience in the Autonomous Ground Systems course (AE350) offered through in Capitol's prestigious on-campus Space Flight Operations Training Center (SFOTC).

- This is Sarah's story -

Before school started, I hadn't been too familiar with coding. I took the regular coding classes, C++ and C, that were on my tracking sheet, however I never grasped the full concept of how coding can be applied to my major. I am a hardware person, so I wasn’t into software as much, but after taking AE-350 , I realized how fun software could actually be and how it applies to Astronautical Engineering.

Being in Autonomous Ground Systems was an awesome experience. I learned how a trending system works, how to plot spacecraft data on the trending system, how the S.F.O.T.C. Galaxy Telemetry and Commanding system works, how to use FreeFlyer, how to develop STOL procedures, how to send commands and procedures to simulated satellites, and I learned how to prepare procedures for instrumentation startup and disconnect. Learning these skills were very useful because when I went to apply for jobs, many of the requirements for the positions were knowing the basics of space software. I can honestly say that I know more than just the basics. That is only because I took AE-350 and the class prepared me for it. Now I can step into a job knowing space software.

The S.F.O.T.C. is a great lab because I can gain hands on experience and I don’t have to wait until I get a job to discover how it feels to be in a mission control room. Professor Mabson made being in the lab really fun and easy. He conducted us through everything and if we didn’t comprehend something, he would further explain as well as give demonstrations.

I graduate this following May and am very grateful that I had an exceptional learning experience in the S.F.O.T.C. lab before I leave. I hope that the lab continues to run next year and that current students, as well as new ones, have the opportunity to receive and have the same learning experience in the lab that I did.