As an Air Force veteran from Spartanburg, South Carolina, Alex Olley now serves as a contract specialist in the International Space Station Procurement Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Olley joined NASA as a Pathways intern in January 2023 to turn his lifelong goal into a reality—bringing his unique experience in the defense […]
Category: Johnson Space Center
Caroline Cawthon: Supporting America’s Future in Low Earth Orbit
Since joining NASA in 2017 as a contractor supporting the International Space Station, Caroline Cawthon has held many roles supporting real-time operations as a certified flight controller, team lead, and lead systems engineer. Now, she is supporting America’s future in orbit as the systems engineering and integration lead for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development […]
From FIRST Robotics to NASA Rockets: Angel Saenz’s Journey to White Sands
Long before joining NASA’s Test and Evaluation Support Team contract in October 2024, Angel Saenz was already an engineer at heart. A STEM education program at his high school helped unlock that passion, setting him on a path that would eventually lead to NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The program […]
Back to Earth, Forward to the Future: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Returns
After months of groundbreaking research, exploration, and teamwork aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 has returned to Earth. NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, splashed down safely on March 18, 2025, as a pod of dolphins circled the Dragon spacecraft near Tallahassee, Florida. […]
NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Assigned to First Space Station Mission
NASA astronaut Chris Williams will embark on his first mission to the International Space Station, serving as a flight engineer and Expedition 74 crew member. Williams will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft in November, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev. After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the trio […]
NASA Sets Coverage for Crew Launch to Join Station Expedition 72/73
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to the International Space Station, accompanied by cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, where they will join the Expedition 72/73 crew in advancing scientific research. Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky will lift off at 1:47 a.m. EDT Tuesday, April 8 (10:47 a.m. Baikonur time) […]
She Speaks for the Samples: Meet Dr. Juliane Gross, Artemis Campaign Sample Curation Lead
Based at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, or ARES, curates the most extensive collection of extraterrestrial materials on Earth, ranging from microscopic cosmic dust particles to Apollo-era Moon rocks. Soon, ARES’ team of world-leading sample scientists hopes to add something new to its collection – lunar samples […]
NASA Shares SpaceX Crew-11 Assignments for Space Station Mission
As part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission, four crew members from three space agencies will launch in the coming months to the International Space Station for a long-duration science expedition aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA astronauts Commander Zena Cardman and Pilot Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos […]
NEO Surveyor Instrument Enclosure Inside Historic Chamber A
The instrument enclosure of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor is prepared for critical environmental tests inside the historic Chamber A at the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in December 2024. Wrapped in silver thermal blanketing, the 12-foot-long (3.7-meter-long) angular structure was subjected to the frigid, airless conditions that the spacecraft […]