Jared Spiers had an interest in contributing to NASA’s mission long before becoming a civil servant for the agency. Growing up close to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and hearing about his father’s work there, he gained a firsthand connection to the nation’s space program. Before graduating high school, he knew exactly where he wanted to work.

Spiers graduated from Pearl River Community College in 2017, where he earned three associate degrees in instrumentation, electronics, and electrical technology. He started working at NASA Stennis as a contractor on the Monday following graduation.

Spiers contributed to the mission of returning to the Moon through his work at the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-1/B-2), a facility originally constructed to test Saturn V rocket stages during the Apollo Program. He helped prepare the stand for the Green Run test series of the first core stage for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket before the successful Artemis I test flight.

“Being hands-on with the rocket was a whole different experience,” said Spiers. “Childhood me would have been crazily excited to see it.”

This work helped lay the foundation for the Artemis II test flight around the Moon last April. During that mission, the first astronauts to fly aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft traveled farther in space than humans ever have before.

This past summer, in June 2026, Spiers transitioned to a civil servant role under NASA’s workforce directive to restore core competencies.

“When I joined NASA, it meant a lot more. It felt like a goal achieved,” said Spiers. “As a contractor, I was never treated any differently, but now with NASA, you feel even more a part of the team. There is more ownership and a very significant sense of pride.”

The ownership Spiers takes on as an electrical engineering technician is evident during his 12-hour shifts that begin at 6 a.m. He is part of the team preparing the stand for stage testing of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. This commercial partnership directly supports NASA’s work to achieve the goal of landing American astronauts on the Moon and building a Moon Base.

Spiers’ technical acumen is put to work daily as he ensures facility electronics are operational so accurate data can be collected. He runs conduit and cabling, connects data-collecting instruments, and ensures motor valves operate as intended. The work is fast paced, but Spiers takes pride in making sure everything is done right.

For Spiers, NASA is truly a family affair. His father, Joey Spiers, also transitioned from a longtime contractor to a NASA civil servant during the summer and works as an electrical engineering technician. Spiers’ brother-in-law, Brock Sheppard, joined NASA as a mechanical engineering technician in September.

The excitement for all things NASA extends to his wife and kids in Poplarville, Mississippi. As proud members of the Artemis Generation, his six-year-old son points at the International Space Station when it passes overhead, convinced his dad works there, while his younger daughter calls him at work to ask about the rocket.

He brings a family-oriented mindset to work and views his crew as extended family. Spiers also is appreciative of the veteran employees who mentored him when he was fresh out of college, and now he pays it forward.

During NASA’s Career Technical Education Day at Stennis in September, Spiers shared his path to NASA, the importance of a strong work ethic, and how technical skills contribute to the agency’s mission with community college students and a virtual audience of thousands.

“My crew is great. We love our jobs, we love being together, and we take care of each other,” said Spiers.

NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 10001 on Oct. 21 on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

Test teams fired the developmental engine for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines fire during launch of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.

During the test, operators also fired the engine up to the 111% power level, matching the thrust needed for new production engines to launch the SLS rocket and the Orion spacecraft to orbit.

The main objectives of the test were to acceptance test RS-25 flight components for future Artemis missions and validate the new thermal protection system, which protects the RS-25 engine nozzle from the thermal environment surrounding SLS during launch.

While this developmental engine will not be used in flight, the hot fire test provides NASA and NASA’s prime contractor L3Harris Technologies with the capability to capture critical data to improve engine performance and reliability.

Four RS-25 engines produce up to 2 million pounds of combined thrust to help launch the SLS rocket for each Artemis mission.

All RS-25 engines are tested and proven flightworthy at NASA Stennis prior to use. Tests are conducted by a team of operators from NASA, L3Harris, and Nova Space Solutions.

Kristie Foster paved her road to becoming a NASA civil servant with literal miles of dedication. Her work at the agency’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, supports NASA’s mission to return American astronauts to the Moon, build a Moon Base for an enduring presence on the lunar surface, and ensure American leadership in space.

Foster’s move from a long-time contractor to a civil servant secures critical institutional knowledge after being hired in June under the agency’s workforce directive to restore core competencies.

“It means a lot, especially carrying the family legacy forward after my father retired from NASA last year after working about 20 years at Stennis,” said Foster. “It meant something to finally see that dream come true in full circle.”

As a quality engineer, Foster manages quality assurance and engineering at America’s largest rocket propulsion test site with much of her focus at the High Pressure Gas Facility and High Pressure Industrial Water Facility.

Known as the heart of Stennis, the gas facility is where gaseous nitrogen, helium, hydrogen, and air are created, stored, and distributed through a 7-mile pipeline across the center for propulsion testing. The water facility utilizes a 66-million-gallon reservoir to pump massive volumes of water to the test stands for cooling and sound suppression.

She also has taken on a safety role of supporting the build up at the Thad Cochran Test Stand (B-2), where Blue Origin will conduct second stage hot fire testing of the company’s New Glenn rocket.

Her technical work involves reviewing test preparation sheets, verifying operational plans in the field, and ensuring processes are executed from the initial design phase through final closeout.

“If you put safety and quality up front and incorporate it throughout the entire process, you are going to end up with a better product at the end,” said Foster. “Because NASA pushes safety and actively performs it, we are able to work at a fast pace with safety at the forefront.”

Foster applies an adaptable, mission-first mindset to her work that is advancing Artemis missions. Following the successful Artemis II mission last April, Artemis III is intended to demonstrate integrated operations between the Orion spacecraft and test versions of commercial human landing systems before Artemis IV returns astronauts to the lunar surface.

“I feel like the space race is back to that original excitement all over again,” said Foster. “Artemis I and II were huge, successful missions. That was amazing to be a part of, and it is something to look forward to with Artemis III and IV. I want to see humans back on the Moon. It is exciting.”

While her focus is now on returning humans to the Moon, Foster’s own journey to NASA started close to home. She completed two years at Pearl River Community College, along with summer night classes at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.

Her first time working at Stennis came with the largest tenant of the NASA Stennis Federal City: The United States Navy, and an internship with the Naval Oceanographic Office.

While finishing her bachelor’s degree in construction management and land development at Mississippi State University, Foster landed a four-week holiday internship on a Stennis construction project. This evolved into a senior-year schedule of working three days a week at Stennis, then driving hours back to campus to attend classes the other four days.

The hard work paid off with a full-time job. Foster worked as a contractor supporting NASA’s work from 2008 until her recent hire with the agency.

A resident of Poplarville, Mississippi, Foster balances her career with life on a farm. Her 12-year-old son, an avid space enthusiast, now shares similar aerospace conversations with his mother that she once had with her father.

As Foster ensures the safety and quality of NASA’s propulsion testing at Stennis, she is leading by example for her son and the Artemis Generation.

“I have always lived by the saying: ‘Shoot for the Moon, because even if you miss, you land among the stars.’ That is how I have approached my career,” said Foster. “It takes persistence and enjoying what you do. One neat thing about working with NASA at Stennis, especially in the test complex, is that I have never done the same thing twice. It is always an evolving situation.”