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I am Artemis: Rachel Hsiong

I am Artemis: Rachel Hsiong

Growing up just miles from Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Los Angeles site, Rachel Hsiong passed the giant Saturn V F-1 rocket engine outside of the facility countless times. Now she’s passing it daily as an employee.

The combination of living close to a center of space innovation and being raised by two engineer parents who worked in the industry inspired Hsiong to study mechanical engineering at the University of California San Diego. She later earned her master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

While at Stanford, Hsiong interned at Aerojet Rocketdyne. That internship sparked a love for rocket engineering, and is what pushed her to move back to Los Angeles to work at the company full time.

Hsiong is now approaching her third year at Aerojet Rocketdyne, working as a project and component engineer on the RS-25 Valves and Actuators Team – a role she has dreamed of since her internship. Four RS-25 engines help power NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which will launch for the first time on Artemis I, an uncrewed mission around the Moon, this summer.

“I absolutely love working on something that will help to further space exploration. It’s an inspiring job,” said Hsiong. “My internship lit the fire for my interest in the space industry and I’m so thankful for the experience.”

Hsiong works on the valves for the RS-25, which entails ensuring the hardware makes its way through production and solving any technical problems that arise. The valves on the RS-25 control the flow of propellant that goes through the engine system during launch, a crucial element of lifting off the launch pad and ascending toward space.

“I’m excited to work on the valves and can see how my part plays a larger role for a successful mission,” said Hsiong. “I’m really excited for the upcoming Artemis I launch and to eventually see some of the hardware that I’ve had my hands on make it to space.”