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I Am Building SLS: Amy Buck

Amy Buck for SLS

Marshall’s SLS Thermal Protection Systems Lead Amy Buck

I’ve wanted to work for NASA since I went to space camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, when I was in fifth grade. Now, I’m living my dream and working on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. I lead the team that applies thermal protection systems to the largest piece of hardware built at Marshall, the launch vehicle stage adapter, to ensure it doesn’t get too hot or too cold during flight. I also work on the team that developed the foam protection for the entire rocket.

I grew up in the small town of Cabot, Arkansas, where there are no aerospace jobs. When I was looking for schools, I found Auburn University in Alabama and fell in love with the engineering program. I interned with NASA and knew this is where I wanted to work. I earned an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering followed by a master’s degree in materials engineering, and I got hired soon after graduation in 2014.

At 28 years old, I’m the youngest person on the team I lead, which is sometimes challenging, but I love knowing that what we are working on every day will end up in space. One of my greatest accomplishments so far is being a part of the team designing a solution for SLS testing. The heat from green run testing, the final test before flight, would have burned off the thermal protection system cork on the engine section. Instead of foam, cork insulates the engine section because higher temperatures exist near the engines that put out 2 million pounds of thrust, but even cork can’t survive both testing and flight. My team developed a barrier to reflect the heat and protect the cork so it can survive green run testing and a subsequent flight. This saved the SLS program both time and money.

When I’m not working on NASA’s new rocket, you can find me with my husband working on our farm where we raise goats and chickens and keep bees. I’m an avid runner and conquered my first marathon last year. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but finishing the race gave me such a sense of accomplishment. I think playing a part in the completion of the SLS rocket and seeing it fly will be like crossing the finish line of a marathon.