
Diana Trujillo Pomerantz
Mission Lead, Mars Curiosity
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, CA USA
“Community college made me believe that I could do it. It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing is.”
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasadena, CA USA
“Community college made me believe that I could do it. It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worth doing is.”
Mission Lead, Mars Curiosity
I am an engineer contributing to both human & robotic space missions for NASA, most notably the Mars Curiosity Mission.
I work with my team to ensure the communications between the spacecraft and scientists on Earth runs smoothly and I oversee all aspects of the mission to ensure everyone has what they need and does a good job. My work is very "in the moment", things can go wrong very quickly and I need to be fully prepared to deal with it.
Here's the first step for college students
Research people that are currently working in the field you are interested in and see what schooling and experience they have so you know what paths you could take. Just keep pushing forward!
"Maybe I shouldn't go to school. I could just start working more hours instead so that I can afford other things."
Success stories shaped by community college