Her Story
About Rocio
I started my career almost 20 years ago, right out of college, and I just got super lucky that I ended up finding a role that I was really good at and really passionate about. After earning my aerospace engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin, I became a flight controller for the shuttle program at the Johnson Space Center, which I absolutely loved. One of my most memorable moments was during a shuttle mission when I was working as a pointer in Mission Control. We had to identify star pairs for the shuttle to align its instruments so it could come back home. I was on the third shift, the one who executes, and we had everything done and ready to go. But when we got to the event, we weren't able to find the star and couldn't calibrate. Our backup plan also had that same star that we couldn't capture. So on the fly, I had to come up with a new pair for the crew in a moment of high stress with the astronauts literally waiting on me to complete something to be able to come home. That experience taught me that no matter what challenge I'm facing, I got this and I can figure it out. My last role at Johnson Space Center was as a supervisor for a contract team called KBR, where I had a team of about 40 people. One of my passions is bringing in really great talent and giving people the opportunity to do their dream job. I was hiring folks for different flight controller positions within the flight dynamics group, and some of the folks I hired are currently working Artemis II right now, which is amazing. Now I'm at the Marshall Space Flight Center working on a habitation being built by our Italian partners that is going to be the habitat on the lunar surface where the astronauts are going to live.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rocio
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would probably say, don't be afraid of change. Looking back, I realized that everything that happened where I was comfortable - I was comfortable in Florida, and then we went to Houston. I was comfortable in my job and loved my job at JSC, and then we moved to Marshall. But looking back and stepping back and reflecting on all that, I realized that that change only makes you grow and opens up opportunities that you wouldn't have had if you would have stayed in the same place. So that's what I would tell my younger self and younger people: do not be afraid of change. I also think it's important to show young people, especially minorities, that this is possible. A lot of times you just see people who are not like you, who do not look like you, and then that puts a thought in your mind that it's just like, well, that's not for me, because I don't see someone that looks like me doing this job. But I was you 20 years ago, and look at where I'm at - it's possible.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Alabama
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.