Faces of NASAThe Faces of NASA series combines stunning portraiture with interviews of NASA's workforce. "And here we are twenty years later, and now we have a whole generation of kids that have never known..."Success is in the journey of trying to work your way back to balanced.” — Magdiel Santana, Senior Program Analyst,..."It is important that we have cultural awareness. And to actually do the science, to solve scientific mysteries, we need..."Yes, it has been a challenge, to get to work for NASA. But it’s worth it, every single day.” —..."When I walked into those doors [at my new job], understanding my ancestry, and then also understanding, I, myself, who...“I think it’s also that I came at a good time when we are having these important discussions about diversity..."I’ve worked in many different roles and what drives my passion is learning things that I don’t know. It is..."I just never knew that I would have the opportunity to have these kinds of mentors to actually help me...“I had a mentor say something to me that I think rings really true. He said, ‘when you work in..."My work will be on that rocket when it flies and this will bring my childhood dream to fruition.” —..."I try to be that glue or conduit, ensuring not only that the research portfolio is healthy, but the team..."What has changed? What hasn’t changed? Are we progressing? I think that we are in some ways, but in other..."Though I’m a Flight Director and the leader of that team, especially in Houston, I’m not significant unless there is...I try to keep an open mind and meet people where they’re at, regardless of what they think of me,..."NASA’s Out and Allie Employee Resource Group helped me do that at work, and that carried over to my life..."I’m second generation American, the first in my family to go to university, and here I am married, working at...“People like to say, “safety first” — but that’s not true. If safety was first, we wouldn’t be launching people..."There will still be people who question everything and that’s a good thing—you also have to embrace critics and find..."[Studying black holes] is this combination of doing math, and also working out physical, spatial relationships — visualizing things orbiting...“On my Twitter page it says: rocket scientist, football coach." — Yusef Johnson, Flight Design Engineer, Kennedy Space Center"But here I am. And maybe I haven’t accomplished everything I want to do. But I can show little girls..."I get really excited talking to kids and inspiring the next generation of explorers. For our role as communicators, it’s..."I'm a hands-on person and I'm a Lifetime Girl Scout. So, I typically have to demonstrate things in a visual...“I’ve always wanted to learn about cosmology, specifically. The history of the universe is fascinating for me." — Dr. Howard..."I realized long ago that I am an ant carrying my little grain of sand. But someday, this anthill will..."I thought to myself, ‘well, that vehicle took off in not-so-ideal conditions. Things aren’t impossible.’ That’s what led me to..."I love seeing the spark in young kids' eyes when they see somebody that looks like them working on big..."It is very easy to get lost in your work, get burned out, and not be present when you're home...“I am right where I need to be today and don’t have any regrets, but it took me a long..."If you find yourself getting lost in it, pursue it feverishly.” — Paromita Mitra, Principal Investigator for the Joint Augmented..."I hope to have more open conversations about mental health support with my fellow lab members as well as outside..."I’ve learned that my voice is valuable, and I need to utilize it in order to make a difference —..."Operating the International Space Station requires an entire team of people all coming together with one goal in pursuit of..."I've been very fortunate throughout my career here at NASA, to have other people that were willing to mentor me...."Something improv comedy taught me is: When you start to let go and not take yourself too seriously and embrace...“[The ceremony] was more than just a street renaming. In my mind, I was thinking, who am I doing this..."I want to ensure I do my best so others can get access to more opportunities and those at the..."It’s almost as if I’m a musician and the fader is my instrument — and I’m playing the astronaut’s voices..."I ended up going out and getting my own dog who I’ve trained to be a therapy dog, so now..."When you meet someone who is doing something different but yet, you can relate to them because of what they...