Meet the Latina Engineer That Helped Get NASA’s Artemis II to the Moon
Credit: @stemforaerospace Instagram
Artemis II’s historic mission to the moon has marked a turning point for human space exploration. The space flight is the first crewed deep-space mission launched by NASA since 1972’s Apollo 17 mission– and behind this aerospace milestone is a team of scientists, astronauts, and engineers, including Venezuelan engineer, Nathalie Quintero.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Quintero is the lead for Boeing Core Stage Operations. They supported the build and design of NASA Artemis Space missions, including Artemis II, which is the first crewed Artemis flight venturing around the moon.
Quintero’s interest in aerospace originates from her father’s background as a military pilot. At the age of 17, Quintero left her home country to pursue an education at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. She continued her studies at Cornell University for a Masters in Systems Engineering.
Now, as the Core Stage Operations Lead for Artemis II, Quintero leads and coordinates different teams to carry out testing on the rocket during its final build and launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Quintero also took part in the launch of the first Artemis spacecraft launch in 2022.
On April 1st, Quintero stood outside the Artemis II rocket launch at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, expressing her pride, appreciation and sacrifice of working on this monumental space craft launch.
On Instagram, Quintero writes: “For the past 20 months (a little bit over a year and a half), I’ve been working towards this day: April 1st, 2026. Working tiredlessly long hours, multi shifts, leading a team, reporting status, troubleshooting and working resolutions of the challenges being in this rocket business represents, but all those ups and downs of navigating what we call life have been worth to get to this very day. Seeing the Artemis II rocket launched out of @nasakennedy today has been a privilege and a highlight in my career. I will never forget this day, and what the effort of a whole team represents to make it happen.”
Quintero’s passion for systems and space has led her to create a social media channel titled STEM for Aerospace, to inspire youth interested in the Aerospace industry. The channel is available on all social media platforms, and provides content in English and Spanish. Quintero has also partnered with schools, colleges, and non-profit STEM organizations for in person and virtual appearances.
To learn more about Artemis II or watch the livestream of their return to Earth, you can visit the official NASA website here.