蘑菇短视频

Gracie Threadgill doesn鈥檛 have to travel far to complete her coursework at Western Carolina University. She grew up just down Highway 74 in Whittier, amongst the mountains that are adorned with life from her home to campus.

And this summer, Threadgill helped investigate if there鈥檚 also life in a place much farther than Whittier.

The senior chemistry major took part in NASA's Inspiring Clipper: Opportunities for Next-generation Scientists internship program at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

Threadgill joined the Europa Clipper mission team, which is trying to determine whether one of Jupiter鈥檚 moons, Europa, has conditions suitable to support life.

鈥淚t was an absolute privilege to participate in the NASA ICONS program at SwRI,鈥� Threadgill said. 鈥淚mmersing myself in space-focused chemistry research not only sharpened my technical skills, but also fueled my passion for pushing the boundaries of planetary and exploratory science.鈥�

NASA launched the Europa Clipper in 2024 with arrival planned for April 2030. The spacecraft will orbit around Jupiter and conduct 49 close flybys of Europa. During her internship, Threadgill made her mark on the mission by working on synthetic analog samples of the Jupiter moon.

鈥淚t introduces students to research they may not be familiar with and also opens those pathways, especially for networking in the field,鈥� Threadgill said.

鈥淚t gives opportunities to understand what it means to be a planetary scientist, or if you're not in the planetary sciences, it gives you information on what the back end of what administration is, (for example).鈥�

The internship did just that for Threadgill.

Working with the synthetic analog samples from Europa, creating samples of insoluble organic matter and attending and presenting at the Project Science Group meeting, where research is showcased from hundreds of top-tier scientists, Threadgill discovered her passion for astrochemistry.

鈥淚 think it solidified my love for planetary science and to even open that door a bit wider as I didn't know fully before going in, that you could be an astrochemist,鈥� Threadgill said. 鈥淵ou don't have to be an astrophysicist. You don't have to be an astrobiologist.

鈥淵ou can work on the chemistry side of things. You can build instruments. You can make different analogs. You can analyze analogs. There's so much that goes into it.鈥�

Threadgill said she applied for this internship on a whim. She had always loved space research and NASA as a whole, and through its website, she found out it offered internships to college students.

It was the only internship she applied for, and she didn鈥檛 even need to be interviewed before receiving an offer.

Threadgill says she was well prepared for her internship, thanks in part to her curriculum at WCU.

鈥淪ome classes, you wouldn't think would be a major help would be your organic chemistry classes, your instrumental analysis class, even the qualitative analysis class has been incredibly useful. I used those math skills the entire time in my internship,鈥� Threadgill said.