Spotlight: Shae Henley
Shae Henley graduated this summer with a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering
Shae Henley is a new test engineer Cape Canaveral, preparing to support the Orion manned mission to the Moon—but before that, she was a bright UofA grad student deeply involved in the entirely student-led CatSat mission. She successfully passed her master’s defense this July before heading straight into her new high-powered new role. Below, Shae reflects on highlights from her time working on CatSat and studying space science at UofA. Read her full story below!
What brought you to Steward Observatory?
I worked on the CatSat project under Dr. Chris Walker (I majored in aerospace engineering as an undergraduate and graduate student in the College of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, but worked with the College of Astronomy and Steward Observatory). I was really interested in getting hands-on experience assembling and testing spacecraft, and Dr. Walker’s satellite mission had been selected to launch by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative program.
Shea Henley and other members of the CatSat team, before the mission launched into orbit
Can you describe your research and any especially interesting learning experiences you’ve had during your time here?
I worked on the CatSat spacecraft, which is a 6U CubeSat. CatSat launched on July 3rd, 2024, and was built to conduct a high-frequency experiment to probe ionospheric charge density, demonstrate a novel inflatable antenna technology, and image the Earth. CatSat was constructed, tested, and qualified for launch by students at the University of Arizona, and a student team now conducts all mission and science operations. Additionally, I was part of the Space Grant program as an undergraduate student worker, was the Flight Director for the mission for just over two years, and was a Space Grant Graduate Fellow during my last year at the university.
Shae Henley and other team members handle CatSat, a handbuilt nanosatellite roughly the size of a cereal box.
What's your greatest point of pride from your time at Steward?
Watching the rocket carrying CatSat launch. It was an evening launch from California, and the team watched it on the University of Arizona mall, so we could see the rocket’s plume cross the sky in front of us. Watching the rocket ascend, knowing one of our payloads was on board, was incredible. Seeing that plume all the way from Tucson makes you feel very small and also very connected to the world around you, at the same time.
Can you share piece of wisdom from your time as an astronomy student?
Never give up! Ad astra per aspera. Directly after launch, CatSat initially didn’t deploy from the rocket. It was devastating, years of our work would have been wasted. The team didn’t give up, however, and we used our active ground stations to help search for other satellites that successfully deployed from the same launch, and to monitor the defunct rocket second stage (where our satellite was trapped), to help other teams and to search for CatSat. Our work paid off - CatSat suddenly deployed from the rocket’s second stage almost exactly two weeks after launch, and we were able to receive its signals the next day. The team worked around critically low power, reboots, and pointing problems to end up with a healthy and operational satellite. The team worked together to overcome these challenges to end up with a successful spacecraft mission; every member put in the time and effort to make CatSat a success.
What’s next?
I’m now in Cape Canaveral, Florida; I’ve accepted a position with Lockheed Martin as an Orion Systems Integration and Test Engineer, and will be working at the Kennedy Space Center. I'm very excited to be working with the company and with the Orion spacecraft to support the upcoming Artemis missions!
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