I Am Artemis: Elkin Norena

3 Min Read

I Am Artemis: Elkin Norena

Listen to this audio excerpt from Elkin Norena, resident management officer, NASA’s Space Launch System Program:

NASA’s Elkin Norena has helped the agency launch more than a dozen space shuttle missions – that’s more than a dozen crews to low Earth orbit and more than a dozen historic missions. They were missions that helped build the International Space Station, that provided a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and that performed critical science experiments that improved life right here on Earth.

Today, he continues that work as the manager of the Resident Management Office for SLS at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, helping launch America’s rocket – the SLS (Space Launch System) – and the Orion spacecraft with its international quartet of astronauts  on the Artemis II mission to fly by the Moon and return home.

As resident manager, Norena provides onsite SLS support for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team that is responsible for preparing, stacking, testing, and launching SLS and Orion. He is also the eyes and ears for the SLS Program, providing an avenue of communications back to the program, which is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

It is the continuation of a childhood dream to be part of space exploration.

“When I was a kid in New Jersey, I watched a space shuttle launch in class one day,” said Norena. “When I watched the power of launch and the brave astronauts going to explore, I knew I had to be a part of that one day. I wanted to become an astronaut.”

The dream to join the space program led the Colombia native to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, where he majored in computer engineering, just miles from the Space Coast and in view of space shuttle launches like the ones he once watched on TV.

When that clock ticks down to T-10 minutes, everybody’s just waiting. You wait for the automated system to kick in. You hold your breath and watch the clock go down to T-0. Then BOOM, launch happens, and you know it was all worth it.

Elkin Norena

Resident management officer, NASA Space Launch System Program

Following college, he joined NASA contractor United Space Alliance at NASA Kennedy, and in 2008 he joined the NASA Kennedy team as a civil servant, working on the same spacecraft that inspired him to pursue the space program as a child.

“I started off in the Space Shuttle Program as an electrical engineer. Then I moved into the firing room for 17 different shuttle missions as a flight termination engineer. It was exciting to be part of all those missions and build the International Space Station,” Norena said.

Using those experiences, he became one of the original SLS team members. He was a part of the teams that successfully launched Artemis I and II and is now critical to the upcoming Artemis III mission.

Away from the launch pad, Norena’s hobbies orbit around his teenage daughters, participating in their activities. He also keeps a keen eye on space and is an avid astrophotographer.

“I love capturing the Milky Way! I’ve traveled to Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and all across the western United States,” he said. “A great spot that’s closer for me is Dry Tortugas National Park beyond Key West.”

No matter how he explores space, Norena believes Artemis II is more than just a mission.

“This is historic. I grew up watching the shuttle missions, learning about Apollo, and wanting to be part of those Moon missions. We built the space station. The space shuttle explored space and technology on many levels,” he said. “Now, it’s our turn with Artemis to get back to the Moon, and this time to stay there. I’m excited to be part of the generation that does that.”

Explore More

3 min read

I Am Artemis: Doug Parkinson

Article


4 months ago

4 min read

I Am Artemis: Jacki Mahaffey

Article


5 months ago

3 min read

I Am Artemis: Lili Villarreal

Lili Villarreal fell in love with space exploration from an early age when her and…

Article


1 year ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Lee Mohon

NASA Robotic Tech Demo Will Advance Prototype Gamma-Ray Detectors

A new type of gamma-ray sensor developed by NASA, called AstroPix, will take part in a robotic arm demonstration on the agency’s upcoming Fly Foundational Robots mission, set to launch in late 2027.

Gamma rays are the highest-energy form of light. Scientists observe them coming from events like lightning in Earth’s atmosphere, powerful solar flares from our Sun, and cosmic collisions in distant galaxies. The sensors on the AstroPix technology demonstration are designed to measure gamma rays between 20,000 and 700,000 electron volts. For comparison, visible light’s energy falls between 2 and 3 electron volts.

Current NASA missions, including the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, also observe gamma rays, including those with even higher energies.

But for energies between 500,000 to 1 million electron volts, existing detectors are less sensitive. This range is where many powerful explosions called gamma-ray bursts shine the brightest. It’s also where astronomers expect to see the strongest glow from the most massive and distant active galaxies powered by black holes. By stacking AstroPix detectors in future missions, scientists could bridge this gap and improve observations of these cosmic objects to better understand the processes that create and drive them.

“The Fly Foundational Robots spacecraft is also a technology demonstration, so the projects were a good fit for each other,” said Dan Violette, an AstroPix team member and post-doctoral fellow at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “We need to thoroughly test AstroPix’s performance before we can use the sensors in future science missions. We’ve flown comparable technologies on a scientific balloon mission, and the current prototype eventually will be part of a sounding rocket payload. Many of those flight opportunities only reach near space, though. It’s not often that technology demonstrations like ours can find a ride into orbit.”

Each AstroPix chip contains four silicon pixel gamma-ray detectors, and each detector incorporates 1,225 pixels. The chips function similarly to the sensors in cell phone cameras.

The AstroPix Satellite Technology dEmonstration Payload, also known as A-STEP, will be hosted within the Fly Foundational Robots mission’s Orbital Replacement Unit, a movable module built by Rocket Lab Robotics. Rocket Lab Robotics also will provide a robotic arm that will pick up and reposition the unit during flight and perform in-orbit operations as part of a robotic servicing demonstration. The A-STEP payload will collect its data following the repositioning. Astro Digital will provide the spacecraft.

The Orbital Replacement Unit was designed to support power and data interfaces for a payload, but the original plan called for the robotic arm to reposition the module without one. As mission development progressed, however, the Fly Foundational Robots team identified an opportunity to further maximize the mission’s value by integrating an additional technology demonstration that could fit within the 11.8-inch (30-centimeter) cube.

“The unit already had the volume, power, and data needed to support the AstroPix team’s design,” said Bo Naasz, senior technical lead, In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing in the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “One of our major goals with Fly Foundational Robots is to demonstrate robotic changeout of payloads in orbit, enabling upgrades or improvements to satellites and space instruments at a fraction of the cost of a full mission. Allowing AstroPix to complete its own technology demonstration in orbit is a bonus.”

The AstroPix team is working to deliver their hardware this September, and it will be integrated into the Fly Foundational Robots payload before final integration onto the spacecraft. The Orbital Replacement Unit will hold the chips and all the associated electronics needed to provide power, and collect and transmit data during flight.

NASA’s Fly Foundational Robots mission is funded through the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s ISAM portfolio, managed at NASA Goddard. Rocket Lab Robotics will supply the mission’s robotic arm system through a NASA Small Business Innovation Research Phase III award. Astro Digital will host the orbital flight test of the arm through NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The development of AstroPix was supported by NASA’s Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, through the agency’s Astrophysics Research and Analysis Program, and funded through the Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship.

To learn more, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/3R28tWE

By Jeanette Kazmierczak
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…

Soccer Meets Space Science

A soccer ball floats in microgravity in this March 2, 2026, picture from the International Space Station. The space station crew tested soccer balls to study how internal mass affects motion and stability in microgravity. The findings have improved understanding of how embedded technologies, including match-ball sensors, can influence performance during play.

Through research aboard the International Space Station and technology developed for exploration, NASA continues to demonstrate how discoveries made for space can benefit people on Earth—including athletes and fans participating in the world’s most popular sport.

Image credit: NASA

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
HQ Web Team

NASA’s Career Technical Education Day Highlights Technical Careers

At NASA, remaining a global leader in exploration and innovation includes having a skilled
and dedicated workforce. Technicians play a critical role in advancing the agency’s
research and missions, applying hands-on expertise across engineering, fabrication,
electronics, and countless other technical fields.

To help cultivate the next generation of technical talent, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement
hosted Career Technical Education Day recently at NASA’s Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Virginia. One hundred high school and community college students from Virginia
and North Carolina attended, eager to explore the technical career paths that help drive
NASA’s work.

“Many students picture NASA as only astronauts or engineers and therefore never consider
a career at NASA to be within their reach,” said Bonnie Murray, lead for the Office of STEM
Engagement at NASA Langley. “Bringing students from local career and technical
education programs to Langley allows them the opportunity to see technicians at work,
hear the pathways those technicians followed, and understand how the skills they are
developing in their related classes have a place in the NASA workforce.”

The event opened with remarks from NASA Langley’s Steve Gayle, who traced his path from
an engineering technician co-op in the center’s Fabrication Division and a graduate of
Langley’s Engineering Technician Apprentice Program to his current role as acting
associate director. Gayle encouraged students to embrace challenges, think critically, stay
curious, and create their own opportunities as they pursue their career goals.

“We need young, bright minds,” Gayle said. “At NASA, we rely on skilled hands-on
professionals — technicians who operate our wind tunnels, apply their skills in our
fabrication shops, and use their electronics knowledge to design, test, and build critical
systems.”

Throughout the day, students toured several of Langley’s world-class facilities, including
the historic Landing and Impact Research Facility and one of the center’s wind tunnels. At
each stop, they received a behind-the-scenes look at the spaces where NASA technicians
build, test, and refine the tools and technologies that support the agency’s missions. The
technicians spoke with students about their work, their career paths, and the skills needed
to excel in technical roles.

Hands-on demonstrations and interactive activities lead by NASA technicians and
aerospace industry partners helped students connect their classroom experience with
real-world applications. Whether observing fabrication techniques, seeing instrumentation
up close, or engaging with engineering demonstrations, participants experienced how
STEM and technical skills directly translate into meaningful careers.

“Through events such as this, NASA seeks to prepare students for aerospace careers
through experiences and investments that strengthen research capacity, build technical
expertise, and expand reach in alignment with agency missions and needs,” Murray said.
The event ended with a career panel moderated by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, associate
director of mission and strategy at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and former
math and science teacher. The panel featured four Langley technician apprentices who
shared insights into their roles and the value of strong foundational skills in technical
fields.

“A basic grasp of how software, systems, and even everyday items function goes a long way
as you progress in your technician journey,” said Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering
technician apprentice at NASA Langley. “When you have those fundamentals down,
learning the more advanced concepts becomes much easier. It doesn’t happen overnight,
but with a strong foundation, the sky is the limit.”

By connecting students with NASA professionals, facilities, and hands-on experiences, the
event showcased a broad range of opportunities available in technical careers. It also
underscored NASA’s commitment to building a strong, skilled workforce equipped to
support the agency’s mission and tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

For more information about opportunities to connect students with NASA’s mission, work, and people, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources

Brittny McGraw
NASA Langley Research Center

Explore More

2 min read

NASA Award Boosts Space Technology Research Capabilities

Article


47 minutes ago

3 min read

NASA Announces Winners of 2026 University Innovation Competition 

Article


6 days ago

2 min read

NASA Hosts 2026 Review on Advanced Composite Manufacturing

Article


1 week ago

Keep Exploring

Discover Related Topics

Missions

Humans in Space

Climate Change

Solar System

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Joseph Atkinson

NASA, USGS Scientists Go Rock Hounding in California’s High Desert

Equipped with rock picks and hand lenses, a team of geoscientists deployed to the Mojave Desert recently to investigate a tantalizing “fingerprint” detected by a NASA sensor. Their target: a cache of topaz hiding in plain sight.

The geologists weren’t searching for gem-grade treasure. Rather, the presence of topaz could hint at a more valuable deposit below of something known as porphyry copper.

One of the world’s primary sources of copper, these deposits are left behind when magma and hot water from deep underground course through Earth’s crust, chemically transforming the surrounding rock. This tends to occur where one tectonic plate dives below another, known as a subduction zone, such as the North American Cordillera, which stretches from the Canadian Rockies to western Mexico.

In addition to copper — the third most used metal in the world after steel and aluminum — the deposits can hold other critical minerals like molybdenum and tellurium, which are used in everything from steelmaking to solar panels. Finding the deposits isn’t easy. Geologists look for topaz because it forms under the same volcanic conditions.

For the team in the Mojave, the goal was to collect more evidence. That would require boots on the ground and a heavy bag of samples. The scientists who converged on the site included three experts from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Robert Green of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

“What we’re doing out here is geologic CSI,” said Green, referring to the investigative TV show, as he split open a weathered red rock to expose a sparkling core. “We’re looking for clues to reconstruct what happened here.”

Next-generation mineral mapping

The sensor that detected the topaz deposit on public land near Barstow, California, was built at JPL. Called AVIRIS, short for Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, it analyzes reflected sunlight and can be used to identify chemicals and minerals by their unique spectral fingerprint. The technology was pioneered in the early 1980s by a team that included Green, and space-hardened versions have explored the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies in the solar system in the decades since.

While its cousins study distant worlds aboard spacecraft, the AVIRIS line of sensors is advancing Earth science from aircraft. The latest model, AVIRIS-5, recently took to the skies for the first time as part of the NASA-USGS Geologic Earth Mapping Experiment (GEMx). The goal of GEMx is to identify sources of critical minerals across the American West, including in the waste rock of active and legacy mines. It is led by the USGS as part of its larger, nationwide initiative.

Since 2023, GEMx flights have covered more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) of American soil, including most of California.

Ground-truthing the sensor data can entail hot field work, scrambling over steep crags to uncover samples for lab analysis. While testing has confirmed the topaz discovery, determining if the Mojave site overlies a porphyry copper deposit will require intensive investigation using ground-penetrating equipment. But the AVIRIS finding shows how advanced NASA airborne sensing can help lead geologists to the metaphorical needle in a haystack, even in heavily explored Southern California.

“People have been prospecting this area for generations,” said Erik Tharalson, a USGS geologist. “But there’s a lot more to discover.”

High flyer

From the beginning, the GEMx mineral mapping campaign has been enabled by one of the highest-flying aircraft in NASA’s fleet: the ER‑2. It deployed on March 31 from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to Colorado Springs Airport in Colorado.

“We deployed to Colorado Springs to maximize flight time for data collection needed in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas,” said John McGrath, ER‑2 project manager at NASA Armstrong.

By the conclusion of this deployment on June 5, the aircraft had completed 26 flights totaling more than 125 hours. Soaring at about 65,000 feet, the ER-2 can fly at high altitudes that allow it to collect broad‑area, high‑resolution spectral measurements in a single pass, supporting researchers studying mineral composition and surface processes.

In 2025, the aircraft flew 36 science missions, collecting more than 7 billion measurements over 200 flight hours. The data has contributed to the largest airborne surface mineralogy dataset gathered in a single NASA-USGS campaign.

The GEMx survey is led and funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative. Earth MRI is modernizing mapping the nation’s surface and subsurface to find new, critical, and other minerals. It is a partnership effort with 45 state geological surveys, federal agencies, private industry, tribes, universities, and others. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging, as well as the USGS expertise in analyzing the datasets, conducting field work, and deriving critical mineral information from them.

To learn more about GEMx visit:

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/gemx/

Media Contacts

Andrew Wang / Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-393-2433
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Written by Sally Younger

2026-037

Explore More

6 min read

Air Pollution’s Daily Pulse Over the Northeast

The TEMPO mission helped scientists track morning nitrogen dioxide that contributed to afternoon ozone along…

Article


12 hours ago

2 min read

NASA, NOAA to Hold Joint Session at 23rd Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems

Abstracts are now being accepted for the session, which will take place at the 2027…

Article


22 hours ago

9 min read

Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award

Landsat’s Jim Irons won the prestigious William T. Pecora Award. Irons, now an emeritus scientist at…

Article


1 day ago

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

GEMx

Armstrong Flight Research Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth Science – Technology

Powered by WPeMatico

Get The Details…
Naomi Hartono