\u201cAs a kid, I always had my head up looking at the stars. I loved astronomy and seeing videos of humans walking on the Moon fascinated me! I wanted to be the first female to walk on the Moon. When Star Wars came out, I wanted to build my own R2-D2 that could explore the galaxies. I was curious how things worked (so I could build a robot) and a cousin told me about engineering. That<\/em> was the name for what I wanted to do! So, I went to the High School for Engineering Professions in Houston. The guidance counselor there told me about an opportunity to apply for a summer internship with NASA as a junior. I got in and I\u2019ve worked with NASA as much as I could since I was 16 years old \u2013 internships and full-time positions. I may not get the chance to be an astronaut and walk on the Moon, but I know I will play a role in helping achieve that dream for another female and a person of color!\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Alicia Baker, engineering project manager for Portable Life Support System test support, JSC Engineering, Technology, and Science (JETS) Contract<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cMy dad was an aerospace engineer with Lockheed Martin. I went to take your kid to work day and got to stand in front of a booster engine. I\u2019ve wanted to work in the space industry ever since. I almost didn\u2019t enter the field after getting my aerospace degree, but I was fortunate to take an Intro to Human Spaceflight class during my last quarter of college. Without that class and the professor (who had worked at Johnson) I wouldn\u2019t be here today. I\u2019m so glad my path led me here. Johnson is such a great place to be, and I can look back and tell little Margaret that we did it!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u2013 Margaret Kennedy, aerospace systems engineer, Engineering Directorate Crew and Thermal Systems Division<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIn first grade, my teacher organized a \u2018Space Week\u2019 in which we learned about outer space. Her sons \u2013 who were studying engineering in college \u2013 came and launched model rockets for us. I knew from that point on that I wanted to work at NASA when I grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Krista Farrell, International Space Station attitude determination and control officer and motion control systems instructor; Boeing Starliner guidance, navigation, and control instructor<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think I would ever work for NASA. But multiple professors in college encouraged me to challenge myself and do some space research. I realized that it was something that I was very passionate about. Thanks to my research work for the Europa Clipper as an undergraduate student, I got my first internship at NASA and subsequently an offer to join the Pathways Program. Now I am part of a small group of engineers that solve entry, descent, and landing problems for multiple missions on Earth, the Moon, and Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Sergio Sandoval, guidance engineer, Engineering Directorate Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Design Branch<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cDad would take me to the viewing room of the original Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) during the Apollo era. He was one of the people supporting MOCR in the Staff Support Room. I have worked at Johnson for 27 years [as a contractor] for Lockheed Martin, Hamilton Sundstrand, and Jacobs Technology.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 David Fanelli, software engineer, Energy Systems Test Area<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIn early 1969, when I was a boy, my uncle visited the Johnson Space Center and brought back astronaut and mission photos of the recently completed Apollo 8 lunar orbiting mission. Those photos, coupled with a Saturn V rocket model I assembled, and the Time Life records and books about the Apollo space program my parents purchased for me, sparked my imagination. I knew I wanted to work for NASA one day. It wasn\u2019t until many years later that that dream became a reality, when I joined NASA\u2019s co-op program for college students during my second attempt to become an aeronautical engineer. After I graduated college, I began working full time as a civil servant engineer at Johnson.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 David Fletcher, NASA lead, Gateway-Ready Avionics Integration Lab<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI remember watching Star Trek<\/em> and Star Wars<\/em> as a kid with my dad. I found some of his college notes in a box one day and thought the small, neat print on graph paper pads was really pretty. He went to the University of Texas at Austin to study astrophysics and engineering, but he never got to finish. Fast forward to 2022 and I find myself in Houston for an unknown amount of time, so I decided to go out and make some friends. I met a woman at a Geeky Game Night, and I learned that she was a food scientist at NASA! After talking some more, she told me to send her my resume. Later that week I received a call to set up an interview. I\u2019m still in awe of how that one chance connection led me to my childhood dream of working at NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Kristin Dillon, document\/IT specialist, Space Food Systems Laboratory<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up in a small agricultural village in India. My first introduction to spaceflight was reading Russian cosmonauts\u2019 translated accounts of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project as a young girl. I am still not sure whether my father picked that book for me on a whim or with a grand dream for his daughter, but it certainly had me hooked. However, I found my true calling to make human spaceflight safer and more efficient after witnessing the Columbia mishap. India, at the time, did not have a human spaceflight program. Thus started a 20-year-long grand adventure of seeking opportunities, pursuing them, immigrating to the United States, and finding my path to NASA, which culminated in a Pathways internship at Johnson.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 Poonampreet Kaur Josan, three-time Pathways intern, currently supporting the Human Health and Performance Directorate Habitability and Human Factors Branch<\/em><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> For some people, working for NASA is a lifelong dream. For others, it is an interesting and perhaps unexpected opportunity that comes up at just the right time and place. Everything from family ties and influential teachers to witnessing human spaceflight history and enjoying sci-fi entertainment has helped bring people of all backgrounds together at [\u2026] Continue reading ![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/jsc2023e064757.jpg\")
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\nLinda E. Grimm <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"