Like many kids, Trenton Witham remembers gazing into the sky and wondering about outer space. But unlike many adults, this SSCS graduate was one of the lead engineers who helped land a spacecraft on the moon earlier this month.
That spacecraft was the Blue Ghost lunar lander which touched down on the moon Sunday, March 2 at 3:34 a.m. after more than six weeks voyaging millions of miles through the cosmos. What was unique about this mission is that once a feat solely carried out by government space agencies like NASA, this time it was completed by a private, Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace where Trenton has worked for the past four years.
“I always loved space and science but I don’t think I imagined a scenario like this in my life,” said Trenton, a member of the SSCS Class of 2016. “But if I could send a message back in time I’m sure a younger me would be ecstatic!”
Firefly built and operated the Blue Ghost and was hired by NASA to carry a fleet of scientific instruments to the moon’s Earth-facing side to study its environment ahead of plans for astronauts to return in future years. Today, uncrewed landers like Blue Ghost are considered vital in laying the groundwork for future space travel and the hopes of astronauts fueling up on the moon and continuing onward to Mars.
Trenton has been a part of the Blue Ghost operation from the very start since graduating from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2021 with a degree in Aerospace Electronics (Avionics)/Electrical Engineering/Robotics. Avionics is the term for the electronic systems and equipment used in aircraft, spacecraft, and satellites. The word is a combination of “aviation” and “electronics.”
“I started working on this program very shortly after I graduated college,” said Trenton, now 26. “To be able to work on something like this with a group of truly amazing colleagues so early in my career is incredible. Mostly, I just feel lucky to be a part of its success.”
Trenton started as an electronics hardware design engineer for the Blue Ghost mission and was responsible for designing a portion of its in-house avionics system that houses the flight computer and provides power and data to various payloads, radios, and navigation instrumentation. When the design was near completion he moved to the role of avionics lead for the mission in charge of finalizing the designs of all in-house avionics components and completing environmental testing to ensure the components could survive the challenges of space.
And survive it did as the Blue Ghost lander, standing 6 feet tall, hitched a ride on Jan. 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for a 2.8 million mile, 45-day journey to the moon. With its mission name “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the Blue Ghost took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on historic launch pad 39A – the site of the space agency’s Apollo moon mission launches.
Now that Firefly’s spacecraft has made it to the moon’s surface, it has begun its mission to deliver and help test a fleet of NASA’s scientific instruments to study the moon’s environment before humans return.
The instruments Blue Ghost carries are for things like lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, X-ray imaging and dust mitigation. The data NASA hopes to collect should also provide insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces affect Earth.
A Great Start at SSCS
Trenton remembers his days at SSCS very fondly and credits his family, friends and teachers for setting him on the path to his accomplishments. He is the son of Steve and Angela “Vrooman” Witham (Class of 1993) and has two brothers Aidan (Class of 2020) and Preston. At SSCS, Trenton was a member of the Science and RPG (problem solving) Clubs and enjoyed band and theater.
He credits two former SSCS high school educators, Sally Lauzon (science/retired) and Benjamin Jacaruso (math/now works at Galway) for encouraging him and going out of their way to inspire his success. “Their approach to teaching certainly set me down the path I find myself on today,” he said.
Today, Trenton lives just outside of Austin (TX) but tries to come back to Sharon as often as possible to visit friends and family.
“I’m still close with many of the people I was friends with in school and, now that I live far away, I can look back and appreciate the fun times that were had together,” Trenton said. “The support they’ve given me has been the longest lasting gift I received from my time at SSCS.”
What’s next for the SSCS graduate?
“Working on something like this is going to be hard to top,” he said. “But Firefly is working on a lot of cool projects and has contracts for two more lunar missions that I plan on being heavily involved with. I’m sure I’ll keep busy!”
On March 13-14, Blue Ghost plans to capture high-definition imagery of a total lunar eclipse as the Earth blocks the sun above the moon’s horizon. The total lunar eclipse will be visible to millions from Earth.
