Today we meet with Rodrigo Schmidt! Rod is an astrophysicist, space engineer and analog astronaut from Brazil. He is finishing his PHD at Purdue, where he is researching the development of space missions while applying AI to sandbox game environments like Kerbal Space Program. Rod is the also the co-founder of SEARCH, the first organization at Purdue dedicated to astronaut-related initiatives, as well as RocketPy, the official rocketry simulator from the European Rocketry Challenge. This interview only touches the surface of all that Rod is doing, but be prepared to be as impressed as we are!<ol> <li><a href="https://rodrigo-schmitt.github.io/" target="_blank">Rod&#39;s personal website https://rodrigo-schmitt.github.io/</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.translunar-esi.com/" target="_blank">Translunar</a>: https://www.translunar-esi.com/</li> <li><a href="https://purduesearch.github.io/" target="_blank">Purdue SEARCH</a>: https://purduesearch.github.io/</li> <li><a href="https://docs.rocketpy.org/en/latest/" target="_blank">RocketPy</a>: https://docs.rocketpy.org/en/latest/</li></ol>

Episode 146: Researching and Writing about Space:

Are you an educator looking to inspire your STEM students? Are you a university or high school student who has dreamed of going to space? Or are you a space enthusiast? This podcast will explore the many ways students and teachers can engage with industry with a particular focus on CubeSats and student team formation with a BLUE-Sky learning philosophy.