{"id":150716,"date":"2026-02-02T12:42:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=150716"},"modified":"2026-02-02T12:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:42:44","slug":"ucf-alums-work-on-blue-ghost-lunar-mission-commemorated-by-firefly-aerospace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-alums-work-on-blue-ghost-lunar-mission-commemorated-by-firefly-aerospace\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Alum\u2019s Work on Blue Ghost Lunar Mission Commemorated by Firefly Aerospace"},"content":{"rendered":"
When most students complete an internship, they leave with a stronger resume, a network of professional contacts and, if they\u2019re really lucky, a job offer. UCF aerospace engineering<\/a> alum Luis Ferrari Rehder \u201925<\/strong> left with something even more special to mark his internship at the space and defense technology<\/a> company Firefly Aerospace.<\/p>\n “… knowing that I contributed to a program that became part of lunar history was deeply satisfying and fulfilling.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Rehder is one of 700 people whose name appears on a plaque commemorating Firefly\u2019s Blue Ghost Mission I, the first fully successful commercial moon landing. The plaque, mounted on the lunar lander, was unveiled through a social media post in January.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredibly exciting and honestly unexpected,\u201d Rehder says. \u201cFinding out that my name was etched on the Blue Ghost lunar lander after I had already left Firefly came as a complete surprise, since I was no longer with the company and had not been aware that the plaque would be included on the spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n Rehder contributed to the mission as a composite manufacturing engineering intern, assisting with manufacturing work orders, work instructions and post-curing walkdowns to support flight hardware readiness. Although his internship ended before Blue Ghost launched, Rehder says that the mission\u2019s success makes his experience with Firefly much more meaningful.<\/p>\n \u201cEven in a small way, knowing that I contributed to a program that became part of lunar history was deeply satisfying and fulfilling,\u201d he says. \u201cAs a college student and early-career engineer, it reinforced how impactful collaborative engineering efforts can be.\u201d<\/p>\n At Firefly, Rehder also supported work on the Eclipse launch vehicle before moving on to an internship at SpaceX. There, he served as a structures engineering intern for the Dragon program. Rehder says he was treated like a member of the team, given ownership over his work, and trusted with design and project management responsibilities. The best part of the internship, though, was meeting some of the astronauts who would eventually fly in the Dragon spacecraft.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the chance to interact with them and hear their perspectives made the work feel very real,\u201d Rehder says. \u201cIt was a constant reminder that the structures we were designing and testing would ultimately be protecting human lives, which reinforced the importance of careful design, attention to detail and engineering accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n Rehder completed a third internship with United Launch Alliance (ULA) before graduating from UCF with his bachelor\u2019s degree in aerospace engineering in Fall 2025. He now works for ULA as a mechanical engineer, supporting payload fairings for the Vulcan and Atlas launch vehicles.<\/p>\n UCF\u2019s resume workshops are what Rehder credits with helping him stand out among candidates during the application process, but he says persistence ultimately was key to earning so many internships with major aerospace companies.<\/p>\nLaunching a Career Through Aerospace Internships<\/h3>\n
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