When Michael Ciancone joined NASA in 1983, he could hardly imagine what his 40-plus-year career would entail. From honoring and preserving spaceflight history to advancing safety standards, he has undoubtedly woven his knowledge and experience into NASA’s history as well as its future. Ciancone currently serves as the Orion Program safety lead, overseeing the Office […]
Category: Johnson Space Center
In the Starlight: Tina Preyan Fuels the Future at Johnson
Exploring the unknown and preparing for humanity’s next giant leap really works up an appetite. Thankfully, employees at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston can count on Tina Preyan to help them fuel up and stay focused. Preyan is a food service specialist at Starport, a quality-of-life program that contributes to Johnson’s mission by providing […]
Station Nation: Meet Nick Kopp, SpaceX Dragon Flight Lead
Nick Kopp is a Dragon flight lead in the Transportation Integration Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is currently leading NASA’s efforts to prepare, launch, and return the agency’s 32nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. He works directly with SpaceX and collaborates with NASA’s many internal, external, and international partners to ensure the […]
NASA Astronaut to Answer Questions from Students in Florida
Students from Dade City, Florida, will have the chance to connect with NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers as she answers prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related questions from aboard the International Space Station. Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 11, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on […]
Meet Alex Olley: Air Force Veteran Powering the Space Station
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 […]
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 […]