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By NASA
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 NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Several of them recently shared their inspiration to join the NASA team.
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“As 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 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’ve worked with NASA as much as I could since I was 16 years old – 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!”
– Alicia Baker, engineering project manager for Portable Life Support System test support, JSC Engineering, Technology, and Science (JETS) Contract
Alicia Baker in a spacesuit test chamber at Johnson Space Center.NASA/David DeHoyos “My 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’ve wanted to work in the space industry ever since. I almost didn’t 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’t be here today. I’m 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!”
– Margaret Kennedy, aerospace systems engineer, Engineering Directorate Crew and Thermal Systems Division
Margaret Kennedy and her dad visited Space Center Houston when she started her job at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in October 2019.Image courtesy of Margaret Kennedy “In first grade, my teacher organized a ‘Space Week’ in which we learned about outer space. Her sons – who were studying engineering in college – came and launched model rockets for us. I knew from that point on that I wanted to work at NASA when I grew up.”
– Krista Farrell, International Space Station attitude determination and control officer and motion control systems instructor; Boeing Starliner guidance, navigation, and control instructor
Krista Farrell (center) stands with members of the Expedition 71 crew. From left: NASA astronauts Jeannette Epps, Matt Dominick, and Mike Barratt; Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin; and NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson. NASA/Josh Valcarcel “I didn’t 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.”
– Sergio Sandoval, guidance engineer, Engineering Directorate Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Design Branch
Sergio Sandoval helps staff a NASA table during a Johnson Space Center community engagement event.Image courtesy of Sergio Sandoval
“Dad 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.”
– David Fanelli, software engineer, Energy Systems Test Area
“In 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’t until many years later that that dream became a reality, when I joined NASA’s 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.”
– David Fletcher, NASA lead, Gateway-Ready Avionics Integration Lab
David Fletcher (center) with his daughters Jessica (left) and Erica (right). Image courtesy of David Fletcher
“I remember watching Star Trek and Star Wars 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’m still in awe of how that one chance connection led me to my childhood dream of working at NASA.”
– Kristin Dillon, document/IT specialist, Space Food Systems Laboratory
“I grew up in a small agricultural village in India. My first introduction to spaceflight was reading Russian cosmonauts’ 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.”
– Poonampreet Kaur Josan, three-time Pathways intern, currently supporting the Human Health and Performance Directorate Habitability and Human Factors Branch
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By European Space Agency
According to recent research, Europe’s net greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by around 25% since the 1990s. While this is good news, the study also revealed a weakening in the capacity of land and vegetation to absorb and store atmospheric carbon.
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By NASA
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane, Taryn Kavanagh, Andro Rios, and Hami Ray. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the talent, camaraderie, and vision needed to explore this world and beyond.
Earth Science Star: Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane
Sangsavang Stevie Phothisane, a Deputy Project Manager in the Earth Science Project Office (ESPO), demonstrated outstanding leadership as the site manager for both of the field campaigns of the Arctic Radiation-Cloud-Aerosol-Surface Interaction Experiment (ARCSIX) based at Pituffik Space Base, Greenland. He has excelled in managing this large and complex project, which encompasses over 75 scientists and engineers and 3 research aircraft, in an extremely remote location 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Space Science & Astrobiology Star: Taryn Kavanagh
Taryn Kavanagh, Research Support Specialist, is an indispensable member of the Astrophysics Branch. She is a consummate professional in all of her administrative duties and goes above and beyond expectations to support our team, our customers and our mission. Taryn recently supported many high-level visits with increased workload in addition to meeting branch needs which has boosted morale and goodwill with both internal and external partners.
Space Science & Astrobiology Star of the Month: Andro Rios
Dr. Andro Rios, a research scientist in the Exobiology Branch, established new strategic partnerships with San Jose State University and Skyline College through the Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program (now MOSAICS). He was awarded grant funding for the ASPIRE Program (Astrobiology Scholars Program Immersive Research Experience), offering a two-year internship for under-represented undergraduates to work with NASA scientists and engineers. Dr. Rios selected and successfully led the first cohort of students for ASPIRE this summer.
Space Biosciences Star: Hami Ray
Hami Ray has stepped up as the Deputy Project Manager for the Lunar Explorer Instrument for space biology Applications (LEIA) mission to study the biological effects of the lunar surface’s extreme environmental conditions on living organisms. She has been instrumental in timely and critical process improvement efforts for LEIA to enable project success. In addition to Ray’s role with LEIA, she also excels as the Deputy Project Manager for the Space Synthetic Biology (SynBio) mission and as the Project Manager for the GLOW mission concept to explore Venus’ upper atmospheric dynamics.
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By NASA
This artist’s concept depicts one of the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s Tanager satellites, the first of which launched on Aug. 16. Tanager-1 will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at JPL to measure greenhouse gas point-source emissions.Planet Labs PBC Developed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the imaging spectrometer will provide actionable data to help reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.
Tanager-1, the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s first satellite, which carries a state-of-the-art, NASA-designed greenhouse-gas-tracking instrument, is in Earth orbit after lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:56 a.m. PDT Friday, Aug. 16. Ground controllers successfully established communications with Tanager-1 at 2:45 p.m. PDT the same day.
The satellite will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to measure methane and carbon dioxide point-source emissions, down to the level of individual facilities and equipment, on a global scale. Tanager-1 was developed as part of a philanthropically funded public-private coalition led by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper. Planet Labs PBC, which built Tanager-1, and JPL are both members of the Carbon Mapper Coalition and plan to launch a second Tanager satellite equipped with a JPL-built imaging spectrometer at a later date.
“The imaging spectrometer technology aboard Tanager-1 is the product of four decades of development at NASA JPL and truly in a class of its own,” said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. “The data that this public-private partnership provides on sources of greenhouse gas emissions will be precise and global, making it beneficial to everyone.”
Once in operation, the spacecraft will scan about 50,000 square miles (130,000 square kilometers) of Earth’s surface per day. Carbon Mapper scientists will analyze data from Tanager-1 to identify gas plumes with the unique spectral signatures of methane and carbon dioxide — and pinpoint their sources. Plume data will be publicly available online at the Carbon Mapper data portal.
Methane and carbon dioxide are the greenhouse gases that contribute most to climate change. About half of methane emissions worldwide result from human activities — primarily from the fossil fuel, agriculture, and waste management industries. Meanwhile, there is now 50% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was in 1750, an increase largely due to the extraction and burning of coal, oil, and gas.
“The Carbon Mapper Coalition is a prime example of how organizations from different sectors are uniting around a common goal of addressing climate change,” said Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper CEO. “By detecting, pinpointing, and quantifying super-emitters and making this data accessible to decision-makers, we can drive significant action around the world to cut emissions now.”
The imaging spectrometer aboard the satellite measures hundreds of wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth’s surface. Different compounds in the planet’s atmosphere — including methane and carbon dioxide — absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify. These infrared fingerprints can enable researchers to pinpoint and quantify strong greenhouse gas emissions, potentially accelerating mitigation efforts.
Tanager-1 is part of a broader effort to make methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable. That effort includes using measurements provided by NASA’s EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation), an imaging spectrometer developed by JPL and installed on the International Space Station.
More About Carbon Mapper
Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by delivering data at facility scale that is precise, timely, and accessible to empower science-based decision making and action. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper constellation of satellites supported by a public-private partnership composed of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.
News Media Contacts
Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov
Kelly Vaughn
Carbon Mapper, Pasadena, Calif.
970-401-0001
kelly@carbonmapper.org
2024-109
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Last Updated Aug 16, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
In this image of the Serpens Nebula from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found a grouping of aligned protostellar outflows within one small region (the top left corner). Serpens is a reflection nebula, which means it’s a cloud of gas and dust that does not create its own light, but instead shines by reflecting the light from stars close to or within the nebula.NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI) NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured a phenomenon for the very first time. The bright red streaks at top left of this June 20, 2024, image are aligned protostar outflows – jets of gas from newborn stars that all slant in the same direction.
This image supports astronomers’ assumption that as clouds collapse to form stars, the stars will tend to spin in the same direction. Previously, the objects appeared as blobs or were invisible in optical wavelengths. Webb’s sensitive infrared vision was able to pierce through the thick dust, resolving the stars and their outflows.
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Klaus Pontoppidan (NASA-JPL), Joel Green (STScI)
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