Redhorse with OPTIMISM, a full-scale twin of the Perseverance rover that is exploring Mars.

Shellene Redhorse took her passion for aerospace engineering beyond the classroom to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) this past summer.

Redhorse, a fourth-year aerospace engineering student and president of CU Boulder’s chapter of Advancing Indigenous People in STEM (AISES), spent her internship at one of the world’s most renowned research centers.

Redhorse joined the Spacecraft Mechanical Engineering Division at JPL, where she worked on VenSAR, a Venus synthetic aperture radar that will launch aboard the European Space Agency’s EnVision mission in the early 2030s. The instrument, built in partnership with NASA, will map the planet’s surface and study its volcanic and geological activity.

“It’s incredible to be part of something that will orbit Venus one day,” Redhorse said. “Knowing that even a small piece of what I worked on will help us understand another planet is surreal.”

She worked with several teams that specialized in deployables, structures and thermal engineering giving her hands-on experience in spacecraft design and testing. She modeled test setups in CAD, worked with Nomex honeycomb tiles, conducted structural testing and even helped cycle thermal samples through high and low temperatures in a HALT chamber.

“I learned a ton about CAD and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing which was challenging but rewarding,” Redhorse said. “It’s one thing to design something on a screen, but it’s another to know that hardware you helped create will actually be manufactured and tested.”

While her internship was technical, it also had moments that brought wonder. 

Redhorse toured the massive JPL campus located in Pasadena, California where legendary missions like the Mars rovers and Voyager spacecraft were born. One highlight was visiting the Mars Yard, where researchers tested rover replicas like OPTIMISM, a twin of Perseverance, and Scarecrow, a lighter model designed to mimic Martian gravity.

Another favorite moment was seeing one of the earliest color reconstructions of Mars, created by NASA engineers using data transmitted as numbers and colored in by hand.

“They only had bits of numbers and made a color-by-number image using crayons,” Redhorse said. “Seeing that creativity reminded me that science and engineering are human experiences.”

Representing Native excellence in STEM

As one of the few Native interns at JPL, Redhorse carried a sense of purpose throughout the experience. While the internship was a dream experience, Redhorse, who is Diné and Chickasaw, was excited to pave the way for more Native representation in science and engineering.

“There are few Natives, but we’re strong,” she said. “I met another intern from the Navajo Nation. It felt powerful to represent and be proud of who I am and where I come from.”

After graduating, Redhorse is considering graduate school where she hopes to continue exploring aerospace, robotics or mechanical engineering. She’s been inspired by mentors who’ve shown her what’s possible. One of those is Aaron Yazzie, a Diné mechanical engineer at JPL, whose story originally motivated her to pursue aerospace.

Redhorse says one thing remains constant for her — determination to keep helping others along the way, especially Native students.

“Grab as many opportunities as you can, even if they feel outside your comfort zone, just go for it,” Redhorse said. “People are more supportive than you might think and there’s a strong community here at CU Engineering and the Campos Student Center to help you along the way.”
 

Redhorse with fellow Native NASA scientists, including Lauren Denson, Kelly Luis and Aaron Yazzie. 

Mars Yard, a site on the JPL campus, is filled with Mars-like rocks and sediment simulating the planet's surface.