By Andy Crocker Manager, Space Systems Branch, Propulsion Department Dynetics During the summer of 2011, Dynetics and the Rocket City Space Pioneers are hosting four student interns as part of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Robotics Academy. The Robotics Academy team’s project is to design a lunar lander prototype. This prototype will be a key step in the development process for the RCSP lander. Some of the team’s summer tasks will include: overall prototype configuration and mechanical design; propulsion, GN&C, and avionics subsystem design; subsystem schematics; key component specifications; cost and schedule analysis; and operational methodology. The team is made up of Even Helmeid, a new Aerospace Engineering graduate from Purdue University; Tim Holland, a graduate of Syracuse University and Aerospace Engineering graduate student at the University of North Dakota; Allen Bordelon, a senior at Louisiana State University in Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Josh Hooks, a junior at the University of Washington in Mechanical Engineering. The NASA Robotics Academy is a very selective 10-week program sponsored by the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Students receive stipends, paid lodging, and numerous field trips to space-related sites around the country. The Academy’s program objectives are to give the students a working knowledge of NASA’s robotics programs, expose students to the operations of a NASA field center, provide technical experience in world-class laboratory, and encourage the students to achieve a team camaraderie experience wherein people work together to accomplish common goals.