Senior’s back-to-back summers at NASA explore the future of building on the Moon, Mars

Tyler Klinchuch pictured at NASA Glenn Research Center's Lewis Field.

For Boise State mechanical engineering student Tyler Klinchuch, finding engineering wasn't rocket science. He found it in a pile of LEGOs.

That instinct followed him through middle school shop class and high school robotics. By the time he arrived at the College of Engineering, working at NASA wasn't a one-time dream; it was becoming a career trajectory.

This past year, Klinchuch's path at Boise State led him to a return invitation for a second summer internship at NASA's Glenn Research Center. This time on a problem that sounds like science fiction: making usable material out of Moon and Mars dust, and a third on the horizon before he begins graduate school.

Klinchuch first learned about the NASA internship program through an announcement from his academic advisor, Lynn Olson. He applied his freshman year, expecting rejection. "I honestly had very little expectation that I would actually get selected because of how competitive the internships are," Klinchuch said.

He found out otherwise while at the gym, opening an interview request on his phone. "I remember just staring at it in disbelief," he added, before, fueled by adrenaline, setting a new personal record on lat pulldowns minutes later.

From LEGO to launch

Klinchuch's first summer led to a close mentorship with Allison Christy, a Boise State Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering alum, who invited him back for second. This year's project centered on in-space resource utilization: using materials already available on the Moon and Mars, rather than launching everything from Earth.

Emma Levenson, Tyler Klinchuch, Ethan Bilodeau, and Boise State alumna Allison Christy pose for a photo at NASA Glenn.

Klinchuch worked with PHB, a bioplastic produced by bacteria, combining it with simulated lunar and Martian soil. Using processes like injection molding, filament extrusion and 3D printing, he and fellow Boise State mechanical engineering student Ethan Bilodeau turned those mixtures into samples they could test and characterize.

"In simple terms, we were looking at how you could take something like Moon or Mars dust and turn it into a usable material for future space missions," Klinchuch said.

The appeal, he said, is equal parts practical and mind-bending. Reducing what needs to be launched from Earth could cut mission costs and make long-term lunar or Martian settlements more self-sufficient. But some days, the science-fiction of it all still catches him off guard mid-task.

"Injection molding itself isn't necessarily the most exciting process," Klinchuch said. "But every once in a while, I'd stop and think, 'I'm developing a process for a material that could potentially be manufactured and used on the Moon.' Something that can feel like a normal day in the lab suddenly becomes a lot cooler when you remember what the end goal actually is."

Klinchuch credits Boise State's Solid Mechanics coursework with preparing him to analyze how materials behave under stress, directly applicable to his NASA testing. He also points to Micro-G NeXT, a student team that designs NASA-sponsored hardware later tested at Johnson Space Center's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, as proof that Boise State had already trained him to work through open-ended problems without a guaranteed answer.

"I had the engineering foundation to contribute, and I was confident in my ability to learn quickly, ask questions, and figure things out as I went," Klinchuch said.

NASA Glenn Polymer Composite interns Ethan Bilodeau, Emma Levenson, and Tyler Klinchuch hold composites in their research lab.

Sitting with uncertainty

That confidence didn't come immediately. Klinchuch admits he battled imposter syndrome walking into his first NASA orientation. By his second summer, the uncertainty had shifted into something more productive, a comfort with trial, error, and not knowing the answer up front.

"I think I came away from the experience much more comfortable with failure and uncertainty," Klinchuch said, "because they're often just part of eventually finding a solution."

The experience has reshaped his sense of what's possible. Klinchuch is now pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering and applying for fellowships to continue researching aerospace materials, with hopes of returning to Glenn again next summer.

His advice to fellow students mirrors the leap of faith that started it all: "Just apply and put your name in the hat as often as possible," Klinchuch said. "You'll probably get plenty of rejections along the way, but you only need one to land."

That single application, he added, "completely changed the trajectory of my college experience."

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