Trailblazer of the Week

Sebastian Cevallos

21 June 2024

Imagine being given 100,000 lines of coding commands explaining every minute detail about how a spacecraft operates, but it’s unfortunately incompatible with your current software requirements. Reformatting these files would take diligence, fierce concentration, and balance. Luckily for Sebastian Cevallos, he’s trained as a competitive gymnast as well as software developer.

“My role on Trailblazer involved constant learning of the different file type standards that NASA created,” says Cevallos, a former Pasadena City College (PCC) student and MOS/GDS Trailblazer intern. “I’d spend several hours looking at data sent between different members in the mission and making sure it was all compatible.”

This was Cevallos’ main goal as a Trailblazer intern: understanding and effectively “translating” a massive file for the Command Telemetry Dictionary which will ultimately control the essential commands of the spacecraft’s instruments.

“After gaining a deep enough understanding about how the commands were formatted, I was able to translate the file successfully and help with any questions related to the commands,” explains Cevallos.

Although it wasn't for a spacecraft mission, Cevallos had previously worked with JPL to assist in the design of Conditional Generative Adversarial Network models (cGAN) for the artificial reconstruction of satellite images. He also worked as a website developer for a startup aiming to connect underrepresented community members to jobs.

“This helped my work on Lunar Trailblazer because I had already experienced the mindset of working independently,” says Cevallos. “The most difficult part of my Trailblazer role was the independent, fast-paced learning, but my biggest takeaway was understanding how to develop software in a professional team of developers.”

Cevallos, originally from Pasadena and then Arcadia, attended PCC from 2019-2022 and graduated with associate degrees in Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering and Technology. He transferred to UCLA where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.

“But I had an unconventional educational past,” he says. “I attended several public schools, a Montessori private school, and completed my high school education over an online curriculum.”

Looking back on his internship, there was one other unforgettable highlight: driving with other interns from Pasadena to the Deep Space Network satellite network in Goldstone, California.

“Being able to see the more than 80-foot tall satellite dishes in person really made me appreciate the engineering that must have been done to allow us to do our work today,” says Cevallos. “I constantly think about how exciting the adventure was, and the new friends I made.”

Cevallos still manages to get out and about. After being a competitive gymnast for 10 years, he became very fond of rock climbing and loves taking trips to Yosemite or Joshua Tree to take in nature and climb the massive boulders. As of now, he’s scaling skyscrapers in New York City as a software engineer at Bloomberg.

“I’ll always be grateful to the Lunar Trailblazer team, and can’t wait to see the spacecraft launch!” says Cevallos. “I would love for Lunar Trailblazer to discover something we weren’t looking for, because with so many instruments mounted on the satellite, data could show us something that humanity has never seen before.”

Sebastian Cevallos s a former MOS/GDS PCC Trailblazer intern and Trailblazer of the Week!

Trailblazer of the Week is an ongoing series showcasing the diversity of experience and expertise that supports the collective determination of the Lunar Trailblazer mission.

By Emily Felder
Emily Felder is a Pasadena City College student and Caltech intern working on science communication for the Lunar Trailblazer mission.