Whanganui's spaceman: Donald blasting off to California, to discover planets with Nasa

Sam Donald will be applying new ways of analysing TESS images to find undiscovered planets with Nasa. Photo / Supplied

He's not going to infinity and beyond, but Sam Donald is flying to California where he will work with Nasa.

The Whanganui-schooled man will be working on a project to find undiscovered planets as part of the 2019 Nasa International Internship Programme after being one of three Kiwis selected from 200 applicants.

Donald works for the New Zealand and American aerospace company Rocket Lab.

More than 20,000 planets are expected to be discovered during the operation, including Earth and super-Earth sized planets hundreds of light-years away.

"It's a phenomenal opportunity," Donald said.

"Nasa is steeped in history and provides some amazing technologies to all of us.

"People know about the rockets and satellites, but it's contributions to things like laptops, artificial limbs and water purifiers that people often overlook."

Donald will be using images captured by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and applying new ways of analysing them to find undiscovered planets.

Born and raised in Whanganui, Donald attended St George's School before moving on to Whanganui Collegiate School.

During his time there, Donald "bounced between all options" and was very indecisive about what he was going to study when he left.

The 23-year-old settled on a Bachelor of Engineering specialising in mechatronics at the University of Canterbury.

"Mechatronics is definitely the broadest specialisation, using skills from mechanical, electrical and software engineering," he said.

"That made the decision easier and I felt like I wasn't missing out on anything."

Donald will be among more than 100 interns from 13 countries, including South Korea, Mexico and Lithuania, participating in the programme.

The Kiwis joining him are Finbar Argus and Lynley St George. Donald has been interested in space for as long as he can remember, but there was no "eureka moment" that pushed him towards making it a part of his career.

"I do remember going on an overnight hike during high school in Tongariro National Park though and properly seeing the Milky Way for the first time.

"It's an awe-inspiring and truly humbling sight."

Donald is not flying into the unknown. He works for Auckland-based aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider Rocket Lab.

There he has worked with staff on the last eight successful launches of the Electron Rocket.

Donald blasts off to the US this week, due to return in December.