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NASA’s Career Technical Education Day Highlights Technical Careers
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Students participate in a hands-on robotics demonstration during Career Technical Education Day at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. NASA/Mark Knopp At NASA, remaining a global leader in exploration and innovation includes having a skilled and dedicated workforce. Technicians play a critical role in advancing the agency’s research and missions, applying hands-on expertise across engineering, fabrication, electronics, and countless other technical fields. To help cultivate the next generation of technical talent, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement hosted Career Technical Education Day recently at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. One hundred high school and community college students from Virginia and North Carolina attended, eager to explore the technical career paths that help drive NASA’s work. “Many students picture NASA as only astronauts or engineers and therefore never consider a career at NASA to be within their reach,” said Bonnie Murray, lead for the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA Langley. “Bringing students from local career and technical education programs to Langley allows them the opportunity to see technicians at work, hear the pathways those technicians followed, and understand how the skills they are developing in their related classes have a place in the NASA workforce.” The event opened with remarks from NASA Langley’s Steve Gayle, who traced his path from an engineering technician co-op in the center’s Fabrication Division and a graduate of Langley’s Engineering Technician Apprentice Program to his current role as acting associate director. Gayle encouraged students to embrace challenges, think critically, stay curious, and create their own opportunities as they pursue their career goals. “We need young, bright minds,” Gayle said. “At NASA, we rely on skilled hands-on professionals — technicians who operate our wind tunnels, apply their skills in our fabrication shops, and use their electronics knowledge to design, test, and build critical systems.” Students visit NASA Langley Research Center’s model shop during Career Technical Education Day to learn about the materials and techniques technicians use to build model aircraft and spacecraft. NASA/Ryan Hill Throughout the day, students toured several of Langley’s world-class facilities, including the historic Landing and Impact Research Facility and one of the center’s wind tunnels. At each stop, they received a behind-the-scenes look at the spaces where NASA technicians build, test, and refine the tools and technologies that support the agency’s missions. The technicians spoke with students about their work, their career paths, and the skills needed to excel in technical roles. Hands-on demonstrations and interactive activities lead by NASA technicians and aerospace industry partners helped students connect their classroom experience with real-world applications. Whether observing fabrication techniques, seeing instrumentation up close, or engaging with engineering demonstrations, participants experienced how STEM and technical skills directly translate into meaningful careers. “Through events such as this, NASA seeks to prepare students for aerospace careers through experiences and investments that strengthen research capacity, build technical expertise, and expand reach in alignment with agency missions and needs,” Murray said. The event ended with a career panel moderated by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, associate director of mission and strategy at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and former math and science teacher. The panel featured four Langley technician apprentices who shared insights into their roles and the value of strong foundational skills in technical fields. Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA’s Langley Research Center, answers questions during a career panel featuring NASA Langley technician apprentices during Career Technical Education Day. NASA/Ryan Hill “A basic grasp of how software, systems, and even everyday items function goes a long way as you progress in your technician journey,” said Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA Langley. “When you have those fundamentals down, learning the more advanced concepts becomes much easier. It doesn’t happen overnigh but with a strong foundation, the sky is the limit.” By connecting students with NASA professionals, facilities, and hands-on experiences, the event showcased a broad range of opportunities available in technical careers. It also underscored NASA’s commitment to building a strong, skilled workforce equipped to support the agency’s mission and tackle the challenges of tomorrow. For more information about opportunities to connect students with NASA’s mission, work, and people, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources Brittny McGraw NASA Langley Research Center Explore More 3 min read NASA Announces Winners of 2026 University Innovation Competition Article 6 days ago 2 min read NASA Hosts 2026 Review on Advanced Composite Manufacturing Article 1 week ago 6 min read Spacewalking With Scott Wray, Artemis EVA Training Lead Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System
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Science & Space
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NASA’s Career Technical Education Day Highlights Technical Careers
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Students participate in a hands-on robotics demonstration during Career Technical Education Day at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. NASA/Mark Knopp At NASA, remaining a global leader in exploration and innovation includes having a skilled and dedicated workforce. Technicians play a critical role in advancing the agency’s research and missions, applying hands-on expertise across engineering, fabrication, electronics, and countless other technical fields. To help cultivate the next generation of technical talent, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement hosted Career Technical Education Day recently at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. One hundred high school and community college students from Virginia and North Carolina attended, eager to explore the technical career paths that help drive NASA’s work. “Many students picture NASA as only astronauts or engineers and therefore never consider a career at NASA to be within their reach,” said Bonnie Murray, lead for the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA Langley. “Bringing students from local career and technical education programs to Langley allows them the opportunity to see technicians at work, hear the pathways those technicians followed, and understand how the skills they are developing in their related classes have a place in the NASA workforce.” The event opened with remarks from NASA Langley’s Steve Gayle, who traced his path from an engineering technician co-op in the center’s Fabrication Division and a graduate of Langley’s Engineering Technician Apprentice Program to his current role as acting associate director. Gayle encouraged students to embrace challenges, think critically, stay curious, and create their own opportunities as they pursue their career goals. “We need young, bright minds,” Gayle said. “At NASA, we rely on skilled hands-on professionals — technicians who operate our wind tunnels, apply their skills in our fabrication shops, and use their electronics knowledge to design, test, and build critical systems.” Students visit NASA Langley Research Center’s model shop during Career Technical Education Day to learn about the materials and techniques technicians use to build model aircraft and spacecraft. NASA/Ryan Hill Throughout the day, students toured several of Langley’s world-class facilities, including the historic Landing and Impact Research Facility and one of the center’s wind tunnels. At each stop, they received a behind-the-scenes look at the spaces where NASA technicians build, test, and refine the tools and technologies that support the agency’s missions. The technicians spoke with students about their work, their career paths, and the skills needed to excel in technical roles. Hands-on demonstrations and interactive activities lead by NASA technicians and aerospace industry partners helped students connect their classroom experience with real-world applications. Whether observing fabrication techniques, seeing instrumentation up close, or engaging with engineering demonstrations, participants experienced how STEM and technical skills directly translate into meaningful careers. “Through events such as this, NASA seeks to prepare students for aerospace careers through experiences and investments that strengthen research capacity, build technical expertise, and expand reach in alignment with agency missions and needs,” Murray said. The event ended with a career panel moderated by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, associate director of mission and strategy at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and former math and science teacher. The panel featured four Langley technician apprentices who shared insights into their roles and the value of strong foundational skills in technical fields. Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA’s Langley Research Center, answers questions during a career panel featuring NASA Langley technician apprentices during Career Technical Education Day. NASA/Ryan Hill “A basic grasp of how software, systems, and even everyday items function goes a long way as you progress in your technician journey,” said Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA Langley. “When you have those fundamentals down, learning the more advanced concepts becomes much easier. It doesn’t happen overnigh but with a strong foundation, the sky is the limit.” By connecting students with NASA professionals, facilities, and hands-on experiences, the event showcased a broad range of opportunities available in technical careers. It also underscored NASA’s commitment to building a strong, skilled workforce equipped to support the agency’s mission and tackle the challenges of tomorrow. For more information about opportunities to connect students with NASA’s mission, work, and people, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources Brittny McGraw NASA Langley Research Center Explore More 3 min read NASA Announces Winners of 2026 University Innovation Competition Article 6 days ago 2 min read NASA Hosts 2026 Review on Advanced Composite Manufacturing Article 1 week ago 6 min read Spacewalking With Scott Wray, Artemis EVA Training Lead Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System
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Наука і космос
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NASA’s Career Technical Education Day Highlights Technical Careers
3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Students participate in a hands-on robotics demonstration during Career Technical Education Day at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. NASA/Mark Knopp At NASA, remaining a global leader in exploration and innovation includes having a skilled and dedicated workforce. Technicians play a critical role in advancing the agency’s research and missions, applying hands-on expertise across engineering, fabrication, electronics, and countless other technical fields. To help cultivate the next generation of technical talent, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement hosted Career Technical Education Day recently at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. One hundred high school and community college students from Virginia and North Carolina attended, eager to explore the technical career paths that help drive NASA’s work. “Many students picture NASA as only astronauts or engineers and therefore never consider a career at NASA to be within their reach,” said Bonnie Murray, lead for the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA Langley. “Bringing students from local career and technical education programs to Langley allows them the opportunity to see technicians at work, hear the pathways those technicians followed, and understand how the skills they are developing in their related classes have a place in the NASA workforce.” The event opened with remarks from NASA Langley’s Steve Gayle, who traced his path from an engineering technician co-op in the center’s Fabrication Division and a graduate of Langley’s Engineering Technician Apprentice Program to his current role as acting associate director. Gayle encouraged students to embrace challenges, think critically, stay curious, and create their own opportunities as they pursue their career goals. “We need young, bright minds,” Gayle said. “At NASA, we rely on skilled hands-on professionals — technicians who operate our wind tunnels, apply their skills in our fabrication shops, and use their electronics knowledge to design, test, and build critical systems.” Students visit NASA Langley Research Center’s model shop during Career Technical Education Day to learn about the materials and techniques technicians use to build model aircraft and spacecraft. NASA/Ryan Hill Throughout the day, students toured several of Langley’s world-class facilities, including the historic Landing and Impact Research Facility and one of the center’s wind tunnels. At each stop, they received a behind-the-scenes look at the spaces where NASA technicians build, test, and refine the tools and technologies that support the agency’s missions. The technicians spoke with students about their work, their career paths, and the skills needed to excel in technical roles. Hands-on demonstrations and interactive activities lead by NASA technicians and aerospace industry partners helped students connect their classroom experience with real-world applications. Whether observing fabrication techniques, seeing instrumentation up close, or engaging with engineering demonstrations, participants experienced how STEM and technical skills directly translate into meaningful careers. “Through events such as this, NASA seeks to prepare students for aerospace careers through experiences and investments that strengthen research capacity, build technical expertise, and expand reach in alignment with agency missions and needs,” Murray said. The event ended with a career panel moderated by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, associate director of mission and strategy at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and former math and science teacher. The panel featured four Langley technician apprentices who shared insights into their roles and the value of strong foundational skills in technical fields. Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA’s Langley Research Center, answers questions during a career panel featuring NASA Langley technician apprentices during Career Technical Education Day. NASA/Ryan Hill “A basic grasp of how software, systems, and even everyday items function goes a long way as you progress in your technician journey,” said Wyatt Healy, mechanical engineering technician apprentice at NASA Langley. “When you have those fundamentals down, learning the more advanced concepts becomes much easier. It doesn’t happen overnigh but with a strong foundation, the sky is the limit.” By connecting students with NASA professionals, facilities, and hands-on experiences, the event showcased a broad range of opportunities available in technical careers. It also underscored NASA’s commitment to building a strong, skilled workforce equipped to support the agency’s mission and tackle the challenges of tomorrow. For more information about opportunities to connect students with NASA’s mission, work, and people, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources Brittny McGraw NASA Langley Research Center Explore More 3 min read NASA Announces Winners of 2026 University Innovation Competition Article 6 days ago 2 min read NASA Hosts 2026 Review on Advanced Composite Manufacturing Article 1 week ago 6 min read Spacewalking With Scott Wray, Artemis EVA Training Lead Article 1 week ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System
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NASA, USGS Scientists Go Rock Hounding in California’s High Desert
Geologists recently converged on a site near Barstow, California, to ground-truth a mineral discovery made on public land by a NASA JPL sensor flying aboard a plane overhead. NASA/JPL-Caltech Equipped with rock picks and hand lenses, a team of geoscientists deployed to the Mojave Desert recently to investigate a tantalizing “fingerprint” detected by a NASA sensor. Their target: a cache of topaz hiding in plain sight. The geologists weren’t searching for gem-grade treasure. Rather, the presence of topaz could hint at a more valuable deposit below of something known as porphyry copper. One of the world’s primary sources of copper, these deposits are left behind when magma and hot water from deep underground course through Earth’s crust, chemically transforming the surrounding rock. This tends to occur where one tectonic plate dives below another, known as a subduction zone, such as the North American Cordillera, which stretches from the Canadian Rockies to western Mexico. California’s high desert stretches below a bright spring sky in April 2026. NASA and USGS scientists are using airborne remote sensing to home in on potential sources of critical minerals here and across the Western U.S. NASA/JPL-Caltech In addition to copper — the third most used metal in the world after steel and aluminum — the deposits can hold other critical minerals like molybdenum and tellurium, which are used in everything from steelmaking to solar panels. Finding the deposits isn’t easy. Geologists look for topaz because it forms under the same volcanic conditions. For the team in the Mojave, the goal was to collect more evidence. That would require boots on the ground and a heavy bag of samples. The scientists who converged on the site included three experts from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Robert Green of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “What we’re doing out here is geologic CSI,” said Green, referring to the investigative TV show, as he split open a weathered red rock to expose a sparkling core. “We’re looking for clues to reconstruct what happened here.” Three-dimensional image cubes illustrate the volume of data captured by NASA imaging spectrometers. The front face shows an aerial view of the Mojave Desert. The colorful side panels reveal what no eye or camera can detect: the spectral fingerprints of minerals present in every pixel. NASA/JPL-Caltech Next-generation mineral mapping The sensor that detected the topaz deposit on public land near Barstow, California, was built at JPL. Called AVIRIS, short for Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, it analyzes reflected sunlight and can be used to identify chemicals and minerals by their unique spectral fingerprint. The technology was pioneered in the early 1980s by a team that included Green, and space-hardened versions have explored the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies in the solar system in the decades since. While its cousins study distant worlds aboard spacecraft, the AVIRIS line of sensors is advancing Earth science from aircraft. The latest model, AVIRIS-5, recently took to the skies for the first time as part of the NASA-USGS Geologic Earth Mapping Experiment ( GEMx ). The goal of GEMx is to identify sources of critical minerals across the American West, including in the waste rock of active and legacy mines. It is led by the USGS as part of its larger, nationwide initiative . Carrying next-generation sensors, a high-altitude NASA ER-2 aircraft takes off from the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on March 31, 2026, to support the GEMx mineral mapping campaign. NASA/Carla Thomas Since 2023, GEMx flights have covered more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) of American soil, including most of California. Ground-truthing the sensor data can entail hot field work, scrambling over steep crags to uncover samples for lab analysis. While testing has confirmed the topaz discovery, determining if the Mojave site overlies a porphyry copper deposit will require intensive investigation using ground-penetrating equipment. But the AVIRIS finding shows how advanced NASA airborne sensing can help lead geologists to the metaphorical needle in a haystack, even in heavily explored Southern California. “People have been prospecting this area for generations,” said Erik Tharalson, a USGS geologist. “But there’s a lot more to discover.” High flyer From the beginning, the GEMx mineral mapping campaign has been enabled by one of the highest-flying aircraft in NASA’s fleet: the ER‑2 . It deployed on March 31 from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to Colorado Springs Airport in Colorado. “We deployed to Colorado Springs to maximize flight time for data collection needed in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas,” said John McGrath, ER‑2 project manager at NASA Armstrong. By the conclusion of this deployment on June 5, the aircraft had completed 26 flights totaling more than 125 hours. Soaring at about 65,000 feet, the ER-2 can fly at high altitudes that allow it to collect broad‑area, high‑resolution spectral measurements in a single pass, supporting researchers studying mineral composition and surface processes. In 2025, the aircraft flew 36 science missions, collecting more than 7 billion measurements over 200 flight hours. The data has contributed to the largest airborne surface mineralogy dataset gathered in a single NASA-USGS campaign. The GEMx survey is led and funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative . Earth MRI is modernizing mapping the nation’s surface and subsurface to find new, critical, and other minerals. It is a partnership effort with 45 state geological surveys, federal agencies, private industry, tribes, universities, and others. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging, as well as the USGS expertise in analyzing the datasets, conducting field work, and deriving critical mineral information from them. To learn more about GEMx visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/gemx/ Media Contacts Andrew Wang / Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-379-6874 / 818-393-2433 [email protected] / [email protected] Written by Sally Younger 2026-037 Explore More 6 min read Air Pollution’s Daily Pulse Over the Northeast The TEMPO mission helped scientists track morning nitrogen dioxide that contributed to afternoon ozone along… Article 17 hours ago 2 min read NASA, NOAA to Hold Joint Session at 23rd Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems Abstracts are now being accepted for the session, which will take place at the 2027… Article 1 day ago 9 min read Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award Landsat’s Jim Irons won the prestigious William T. Pecora Award. Irons, now an emeritus scientist at… Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA GEMx Armstrong Flight Research Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory Earth Science – Technology
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NASA, USGS Scientists Go Rock Hounding in California’s High Desert
Geologists recently converged on a site near Barstow, California, to ground-truth a mineral discovery made on public land by a NASA JPL sensor flying aboard a plane overhead. NASA/JPL-Caltech Equipped with rock picks and hand lenses, a team of geoscientists deployed to the Mojave Desert recently to investigate a tantalizing “fingerprint” detected by a NASA sensor. Their target: a cache of topaz hiding in plain sight. The geologists weren’t searching for gem-grade treasure. Rather, the presence of topaz could hint at a more valuable deposit below of something known as porphyry copper. One of the world’s primary sources of copper, these deposits are left behind when magma and hot water from deep underground course through Earth’s crust, chemically transforming the surrounding rock. This tends to occur where one tectonic plate dives below another, known as a subduction zone, such as the North American Cordillera, which stretches from the Canadian Rockies to western Mexico. California’s high desert stretches below a bright spring sky in April 2026. NASA and USGS scientists are using airborne remote sensing to home in on potential sources of critical minerals here and across the Western U.S. NASA/JPL-Caltech In addition to copper — the third most used metal in the world after steel and aluminum — the deposits can hold other critical minerals like molybdenum and tellurium, which are used in everything from steelmaking to solar panels. Finding the deposits isn’t easy. Geologists look for topaz because it forms under the same volcanic conditions. For the team in the Mojave, the goal was to collect more evidence. That would require boots on the ground and a heavy bag of samples. The scientists who converged on the site included three experts from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Robert Green of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “What we’re doing out here is geologic CSI,” said Green, referring to the investigative TV show, as he split open a weathered red rock to expose a sparkling core. “We’re looking for clues to reconstruct what happened here.” Three-dimensional image cubes illustrate the volume of data captured by NASA imaging spectrometers. The front face shows an aerial view of the Mojave Desert. The colorful side panels reveal what no eye or camera can detect: the spectral fingerprints of minerals present in every pixel. NASA/JPL-Caltech Next-generation mineral mapping The sensor that detected the topaz deposit on public land near Barstow, California, was built at JPL. Called AVIRIS, short for Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, it analyzes reflected sunlight and can be used to identify chemicals and minerals by their unique spectral fingerprint. The technology was pioneered in the early 1980s by a team that included Green, and space-hardened versions have explored the Moon, Mars, and other rocky bodies in the solar system in the decades since. While its cousins study distant worlds aboard spacecraft, the AVIRIS line of sensors is advancing Earth science from aircraft. The latest model, AVIRIS-5, recently took to the skies for the first time as part of the NASA-USGS Geologic Earth Mapping Experiment ( GEMx ). The goal of GEMx is to identify sources of critical minerals across the American West, including in the waste rock of active and legacy mines. It is led by the USGS as part of its larger, nationwide initiative . Carrying next-generation sensors, a high-altitude NASA ER-2 aircraft takes off from the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on March 31, 2026, to support the GEMx mineral mapping campaign. NASA/Carla Thomas Since 2023, GEMx flights have covered more than 386,000 square miles (1 million square kilometers) of American soil, including most of California. Ground-truthing the sensor data can entail hot field work, scrambling over steep crags to uncover samples for lab analysis. While testing has confirmed the topaz discovery, determining if the Mojave site overlies a porphyry copper deposit will require intensive investigation using ground-penetrating equipment. But the AVIRIS finding shows how advanced NASA airborne sensing can help lead geologists to the metaphorical needle in a haystack, even in heavily explored Southern California. “People have been prospecting this area for generations,” said Erik Tharalson, a USGS geologist. “But there’s a lot more to discover.” High flyer From the beginning, the GEMx mineral mapping campaign has been enabled by one of the highest-flying aircraft in NASA’s fleet: the ER‑2 . It deployed on March 31 from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to Colorado Springs Airport in Colorado. “We deployed to Colorado Springs to maximize flight time for data collection needed in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas,” said John McGrath, ER‑2 project manager at NASA Armstrong. By the conclusion of this deployment on June 5, the aircraft had completed 26 flights totaling more than 125 hours. Soaring at about 65,000 feet, the ER-2 can fly at high altitudes that allow it to collect broad‑area, high‑resolution spectral measurements in a single pass, supporting researchers studying mineral composition and surface processes. In 2025, the aircraft flew 36 science missions, collecting more than 7 billion measurements over 200 flight hours. The data has contributed to the largest airborne surface mineralogy dataset gathered in a single NASA-USGS campaign. The GEMx survey is led and funded by the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative . Earth MRI is modernizing mapping the nation’s surface and subsurface to find new, critical, and other minerals. It is a partnership effort with 45 state geological surveys, federal agencies, private industry, tribes, universities, and others. The initiative will capitalize on both the technology developed by NASA for spectroscopic imaging, as well as the USGS expertise in analyzing the datasets, conducting field work, and deriving critical mineral information from them. To learn more about GEMx visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/gemx/ Media Contacts Andrew Wang / Andrew Good Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 626-379-6874 / 818-393-2433 [email protected] / [email protected] Written by Sally Younger 2026-037 Explore More 6 min read Air Pollution’s Daily Pulse Over the Northeast The TEMPO mission helped scientists track morning nitrogen dioxide that contributed to afternoon ozone along… Article 17 hours ago 2 min read NASA, NOAA to Hold Joint Session at 23rd Symposium on Operational Environmental Satellite Systems Abstracts are now being accepted for the session, which will take place at the 2027… Article 1 day ago 9 min read Jim Irons, Former Landsat Project Scientist, Wins Pecora Award Landsat’s Jim Irons won the prestigious William T. Pecora Award. Irons, now an emeritus scientist at… Article 1 day ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA GEMx Armstrong Flight Research Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory Earth Science – Technology
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