Andrew Arends

Andrew’s research focuses on enabling sustainable human spaceflight through life support innovations. He is developing an astronaut-powered laundry system to clean exercise clothing in microgravity, addressing hygiene, water reuse, and waste management challenges for deep space missions. His work combines system modeling, water management in microgravity, in-situ resource utilization, and exercise physiology to create closed-loop solutions for long-duration spaceflight.

Andrew’s journey into space systems engineering began with high-power rocketry, where he designed, built, and launched rockets as part of the UC Davis Eclipse Rocketry Team competing in NASA’s Student Launch Initiative. He gained his first industry experience at Moog CSA Engineering, working on spaceflight hardware, including gravity-offload training devices and CubeSat mechanisms.

As a NASA Pathways intern since 2019, Andrew worked at Ames Research Center developing a digital twin of the Vertical Motion Simulator, helping advance human-in-the-loop testing for lunar landers and next-gen aircraft. Currently, at Johnson Space Center, his focus is on logistics reduction technologies, including waste management, hygiene water treatment, and soft goods for crewed missions. He regularly presents his work at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES), contributing to the broader human spaceflight systems community.

Andrew is also a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity (NSTGRO) Fellow. NSTGRO is one of NASA’s premier graduate fellowships, supporting cutting-edge space technology research that addresses NASA’s future mission needs. Through this fellowship, Andrew collaborates with experts across NASA centers, develops flight-relevant hardware, and advances critical life support technologies for human space exploration.

Outside of research, Andrew enjoys cooking and baking from scratch, photography, pool, RPG video games, running and cycling, and exploring the outdoors through camping and travel. Andrew is also passionate about STEM outreach, helping to inspire the next generation of engineers and explorers.