Dan Zapata is a crawler systems engineer for the Exploration Ground Systems Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of seven certified drivers for the agency’s crawler transporters –six-million-pound platforms that carry rockets and spacecraft from Kennedy’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad – Zapata is part of the team that will take NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to Launch Complex 39B for the Artemis I launch. Artemis I is the first in an increasingly complex series of missions that will ultimately send the first woman and first person of color to the Moon, paving the way for long-term presence in lunar orbit and serving as a steppingstone for future missions to Mars.

Shannon Gregory, chief of Flight Operations at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, stands in front of one of the agency’s Airbus H135 (T3) helicopters inside a hangar at Kennedy’s Launch and Landing Facility in Florida on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023. Gregory leads his team to provide support at launches and recoveries, securing the airspace, shooting video, and coordinating with mission control.

Shannon Gregory Headshots

Jonah Saunders, Electrical Engineering Pathways Intern, poses in front of Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2023.

NE Pathways Intern Headshot

Shannon Gregory Headshots

NE Pathways Intern Headshot

Shannon Gregory Headshots

jsc2026e020501 (April 6, 2026) - NASA Flight Directors Diane Dailey, Pooja Jesrani, and Paul Konyha pictured in the White Flight Control Room during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby. Credit: NASA

Lunar Flyby in Mission Control