Aidan Orchard Email & Phone Number

Tustin, CA, US

Tustin, CA, US

• Spaceship Delta - Aero Lead
• Led discipline of 10 engineers through the performance and flying qualities development for the SS Delta Spaceship.
• Established and executing team strategy to support major milestones: CoDR, PDR, & CDR.
• Supported transonic wind tunnel testing preparation, execution, data processing.
• Developed the flying qualities compliance criteria for part 400 space-plane.
• Led conceptualization and development of integrated aerodynamic model.

Tustin, CA, US

• Led and managed an aerodynamics team comprised of 20 skilled engineers.
• Recruited, interviewed, hired 10 new engineers. Facilitated onboarding, initial training.
• Championed growth and development of team, fostering goal setting, personal development.
• Led process improvement initiatives for trajectory analysis software, flight clearance analysis.
• Authored SOWs and managed contract work, thereby expanding team’s bandwidth.

Tustin, CA, US

• SS Unity Interiors IPT
• Collaborated with Chief Engineer to oversee and execute projects related to astronaut facing systems, including customer seats, interior cameras, and interior structure.
• Led the integration and testing of structural systems within the flight vehicle, ensuring functionality and reliability.
• Facilitated effective communication between various stakeholders, including suppliers, engineering, manufacturing, and operations.
• Pioneered the creation of quality control processes for design and build configuration mgmt.

Tustin, CA, US

• Designed and implemented a robust thermal hazard monitoring and mitigation system for Spaceship Unity within mission control.
• Operated the thermal console during critical powered flight testing and envelope expansion.
• Established clear & effective rules of engagement for communication during testing aborts and anomalies, ensuring quick and decisive actions in critical situations.
• Developed operator training programs and qualification processes to ensure team proficiency.
• Contributed to flight test plans and flight readiness reviews.

Tustin, CA, US

• Strategically optimized the thermal protection system for SS Unity, emphasizing weight reduction while maintaining airframe safety margins.
• Developed specialized software for in-depth thermal analysis and accurate airframe temperature estimation, using comprehensive 3D models and thermal physics.
• Created 3D models of aerothermal heating and plume radiation heating using CFD derived convection data and empirical thermal radiation data.
• Contributed to rocket ground tests by conducting radiation measurements.
• Programmed 10k+ lines of code in C++ & Matlab for thermal analysis software, alongside supporting code libraries for computational surface mesh mathematics and thermal physics.
• Showcased expertise by publishing methods and findings in AIAA.

Tustin, CA, US

• Established a streamlined process and toolchain to facilitate submission and quality control of aerodynamic CFD simulations.
• Created a comprehensive aerodynamics database for SS Unity using Fun3D.

Hawthorne, California, US

• Assisted in planning and successful execution of the Falcon Heavy buffet wind tunnel test.
• Contributed to the calibration, assembly, and validation of high fidelity pressure sensors.
• Developed custom frequency domain data processing code.
• Conducted investigations into the aerodynamic sources of buffeting and aeroacoustics, comparing processed test data with findings from existing literature.

• Developed software for launch vehicle trajectory simulation in C and C++.

Master Of Science (Ms), Aerospace Engineering

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Aerospace Engineering And Mechanics