The Colombian engineer Diana Trujillo will be one of the flight chiefs will oversee NASA’s program to return to the Moonknown as Artemis, as well as International Space Station (ISS) mission operations and commercial crew.
NASA reported this Wednesday that Trujillo, which is also the first Latin woman to be part of the Academy program of that agencywas selected to lead human spaceflight missions from the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
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Trujillo, born in Cali, will be part of a new group made up of Heidi Brewer, Ronak Dave, Chris Dobbins, Garrett Hehn, Nicole McElroy, and Elias Myrmo.
The seven will lead “teams of flight controllers, research and engineering experts and support staff around the world, making decisions in real timel,” the agency detailed.
They will be responsible for keeping astronauts safe and executing manned spaceflight missions“said Norm Knight, director of Flight Operations at NASA, in a statement.
The agency noted that becoming a NASA flight director requires years of study and dedicationas well as professional experience in a high-stress environment that requires quick decision-making.
Trujillo, an immigrant who arrived in the United States at the age of 17, with little in her pockets and no English, became, among others, the leader of the engineering team that developed the robotic arm for the Perseverance ship.
The Colombian contributed in 2021 to the historic landing of Perseverance rover on Marsas head of mission.
It was responsible for the rover’s tactical command team and staff who analyzed the robot’s telemetry to determine your health and condition.
He also worked as surface flight director during the Perseverance rover’s first surface operations on Marsincluding the commissioning and deployment of Ingenuity, the first helicopter to operate on another planet.
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Previously, this Latina aerospace engineer served as chief of mission and deputy chief of the engineering operations team for the Mars Curiosity mission.
In 2021, Trujillo received the Cross of Boyacá, the highest honor that the Colombian government bestows on its civilians. In fact, President Iván Duque congratulated Diana for this new jobwhich he considered inspiring for girls and young people.
