{"id":506225,"date":"2026-08-13T01:38:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=1036987"},"modified":"2026-08-13T01:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:38:51","slug":"pursuing-a-dream-of-working-for-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=506225","title":{"rendered":"Pursuing a Dream of Working for NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lindsey Waitt, engineer with NASA\u2019s Exploration Ground Systems Program, participates in a terminal countdown simulation for Artemis III on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, inside Firing Room 1 of the Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Clayton Rougelot<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As a young girl raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lindsey Waitt dreamed of working for NASA. Her dream is now a reality as she embarks on her role as a NASA test project engineer with the Artemis launch team – an integral part of the agency\u2019s missions that will enable humans to return to the surface of the Moon after launching from NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

When she was in middle school in the late 1990\u2019s, Waitt recalls meeting NASA Space Shuttle astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Albert Sacco, Jr., a former professor at the college, during a visit to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Massachusetts. She was inspired while listening to them recount their spaceflight experiences including an experiment on conducting research for growing cells on the Moon. She even posed for a picture and got their autographs. Little did young Waitt know, these would not be the only astronauts she would meet.<\/p>\n

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Lindsey Waitt (far right), poses for a photograph with NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and her cousin at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.<\/div>\n
Photo credit: NASA\/Lindsey Waitt<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Her passion for learning about all things space and engineering led Waitt back to WPI where she studied engineering, absorbing different disciplines. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering and she left the school fueled by her passion to be a part of America\u2019s space agency.<\/p>\n

After graduation, she worked as a systems engineer on radar flight test missions for a defense contractor, and while excelling in her role, she realized it wasn\u2019t the aerospace engineering field that she desired.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an exciting program, and it was meaningful to be a part of a project focused on protecting the country from enemy attacks. But it wasn’t space,\u201d Waitt said.<\/p>\n

As the wife of a now retired sergeant first class officer in the United States Army, Waitt and her family traveled around the world during her husband\u2019s enlistment, and she continued to follow NASA missions from around the globe. While Waitt was dedicated to raising her three young boys, she simultaneously pursued her master\u2019s degree in Space Operations from the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Twelve years later, she made the courageous decision to fully return to her first career passion \u2013 working for NASA \u2013 despite nay-sayers suggesting too much time had passed for her to return to the industry.<\/p>\n

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The sky is not the limit, it's wide open now. The universe is the limit.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"Lindsey<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Lindsey waitt<\/p>\n

Test project engineer<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Waitt vividly remembers watching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken soar skyward during NASA\u2019s first commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in 2020. Watching alongside her family, she even set up a rocket-shaped tent, and she and her children pretended to blast off from their yard as they cheered excitedly as the astronauts lifted off from what would be her future place of work.<\/p>\n

After moving to Florida in 2022 to work at a small satellite company in Cape Canaveral, as a systems engineer and program manager, she continued to search for opportunities to work for the agency. Waitt vividly remembers watching Artemis I with her family. They had just moved to the Sunshine State, and she woke up in the early hours of the morning to watch the historic launch, having no idea she would be working on the next Artemis mission – the first time NASA sent humans around the Moon in over 50 years!<\/p>\n

In 2024, Waitt began her career at Kennedy working for a contractor as a test project engineer during the Artemis II launch. As \u201cproblem-solvers,\u201d test project engineers are the main hub of experts for technical tests and launch activities and they work to coordinate resolutions across the different subsystems that may arise during the dynamic operations associated with a rocket launch. Leading up to the Artemis II launch in April, Waitt quickly became certified to sit on the launch console during the dynamic pre and post-launch operations for the massive SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft and she eagerly watched from outside Kennedy\u2019s Launch Control Center as the four crew members lifted off the launch pad towards the Moon.<\/p>\n

When NASA announced its insourcing initiative earlier this year, Waitt seized the opportunity to fully realize her dream. She applied for a position and is now a NASA civil servant supporting the Artemis launch team as a test project engineer for NASA\u2013 a core position for the agency\u2019s launch team. With Artemis III in front of her, Lindsey will see the buildup of launch operations from start to finish.<\/p>\n

As the only female of the 14 test project engineers who work on the Artemis launch team, Waitt said she was fully embraced by the colleagues she stands beside.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s very open and welcoming,\u201d Waitt said. \u201cI’ve worked on teams before, but it’s never been like this. Everyone is so passionate about the mission, and everybody is working together to get things done quickly, but safely \u2013 that\u2019s always first priority.  We Are Going.\u201d<\/p>\n

This opportunity didn\u2019t happen by chance. Waitt is embracing life\u2019s journey and focused on making her dream come true, one launch at a time. \u201cThe sky is not the limit \u2013 it\u2019s wide open now,\u201d Waitt said. \u201cThe universe is the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a young girl raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, Lindsey Waitt dreamed of working for NASA. Her dream is now a reality as she embarks on her role as a NASA test project engineer with the Artemis launch team \u2013 an integral part of the agency\u2019s missions that will enable humans to return to the surface [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15595,16342,15717],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-506225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artemis","category-artemis-3","category-kennedy-space-center"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t