Haile Brown
About Haile Brown
Haile Brown is a 3rd year Astronomy/Earth and Planetary Science major at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM) currently working as the PI for Project Innovatus and interning on the NASA Lucy Mission. After graduating high school at 16 she attended community college part-time until 2019 when she began attending UHM as a full-time student. For the past year, she has been a part of the NASA LʻSPACE Academy after discovering the program online while seeking opportunities to gain experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. During her time in the Mission Concept Academy (MCA) section of the program, she worked alongside a team of 6 undergraduate students to write a Preliminary Design Review for a mission concept the saturnian moon of Enceladus. While on this team Haile worked within the science team as the sole astronomer and was tasked with providing the team with vital environmental and surface information needed to ensure mission success. After successful completion of MCA she went on to the NASA Proposal Writing and Evaluation Experience (NPWEE) where she is the PI of a team of 10 undergraduate students who successfully wrote a proposal for Graphene Aerogel in accordance with a NASA solicitation. Her team’s proposal then underwent full peer and agency review boards and obtained funding for the project which is currently underway and set for phase 1 completion in September of 2021. After the completion of phase 1 of the project, Haile and the team plan to propose for additional funding to explore the 3-D printing aspects of synthesizing this new form of aerogel. Haile is passionate about space because what lies beyond earth's atmosphere can help us to gain a better perspective on how life and the universe was created. By contributing to the exploration of space she feels a sense of purpose and hope for the future. After completing her undergraduate education, Haile aims to attend Arizona State University for a Master’s degree in Planetary Science and or Materials Science. After which her end goals are to obtain a PhD in Astronomy and employment as a project or mission-oriented scientist within NASA. In her spare time, Haile enjoys going to the beach, spending time with her friends/teammates, and playing with her dog Elvis. She currently lives in Hawai’i where she grew up and will continue to live there while she finishes her undergraduate education.