At This Company, Your Co-Workers Have Been To Outer Space—And You Could Learn A Lot From Them

Whether it’s in movies or the news, space is all over the place. At this point, very few people can imagine a (bright) future for our species that doesn’t involve space travel or interplanetary colonization. But for all the people talking about space, some of the most knowledgeable on the topic actually work behind-the-scenes.

Two of those knowledgeable people are former NASA astronauts and current aerospace leaders at Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC): Steve Lindsey and Lee Archambault.

The former astronauts have years of spaceflight, engineering, and flying experience they bring to new SNC projects, like the Dream Chaser^® spacecraft and the company’s lunar gateway prototype.

Meet SNC And Their Astronaut Dream Team

SNC is behind numerous exciting innovations in aerospace and defense. Its innovations can protect people in warzones by jamming the signals of radio-controlled IEDs (improvised explosive devices), AND help operate the instrument arms on the Mars rovers. SNC makes high-stakes tech that powers critical national defense operations and human exploration of the final frontier. Astronauts, soldiers and medics rely on the products that SNC makes.

But that’s just the company.

The team is full of brilliant minds in extremely complicated disciplines like mechanical engineering, programming and medicine. However, three of SNC’s many stars are Steve Lindsey,Lee Archambault, and John Curry.

Lindsey and Archambault are former NASA astronauts and—yes, this was actually their job—SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDERS, who retired from NASA to join the team at SNC and help build the next generation of spacecraft. Both worked as test pilots for the Air Force and NASA, leading to careers as astronauts and commanders at NASA. Both commanded missions under the direction of NASA flight directors, such as John Curry, Dream Chaser program director. They led missions to the International Space Station. In fact, Lindsey was the pilot who navigated the last mission of NASA legend, U.S. Senator, and American hero, John Glenn.

What (And How) You Can Learn From Astronauts

Prestigious companies will often tout public figures and accomplished team members as being part of their team, but how many can say that those people do real work at the firm? Let alone work alongside recent grads and interns?

SNC is among the few.

It matters to SNC that people like Lindsey, Archambault, and Curry work there, because the company’s culture of mentorship and talent cultivation means that learning from your co-workers is not some ethereal concept. It’s the real deal.

Learning to be a rocket scientist or an aerospace engineer is nearly impossible to do without lots of hands-on experience at a high level. SNC offers that experience to their recent-grad hires and interns through mentorship and teaching. When you work at SNC, you’ll have plenty of leaders at every level, from management to fellow grads, showing you the ropes of actual aerospace engineering work.

As for Lindsey and Archambault, what can two veteran space commanders teach you about the industry? Our guess: a whole lot!

Ready to find your way into the aerospace field? Check out fun facts, videos, and amazing opportunities from SNC on WayUp right now!