Kelsey Evans Young

Artemis Science Flight Operations Lead

Since 2022, Dr. Young has served as the Artemis Science Flight Operations Lead for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). She is responsible for leading the integration of the Artemis Science Team into the broader Artemis flight control structure, as well as coordinating the overall architecture and communications of the lunar science and payload teams within the larger Mission Control flight control framework. She also coordinates Artemis Science Team onboarding and training, the physical workspace and required resources for Science Team operations, and the Science Evaluation Room (SER) training flow. Finally, she manages the generation of all science operations pre-mission products and inputs.

Young is also the Lead Science Officer, or flight controller in the front room of JSC's Mission Control Center responsible for lunar science and geology. She both supports mission simulations and mission execution herself while also managing the group of Science Officers through their training, certification, and on console support.

Artemis II Lunar Science Lead

Dr. Young is the lead for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD)'s lunar science objectives for the ArtemisII mission, including observations and photography of the Moon and the Earth. She is responsible for integrating these objectives into pre-mission planning, timelining, operations product generation, and testing, as well as solidifying and executing the science operations structure for the mission. She also participates in crew training to support these objectives. Young also served as the mission's Lead Science Officer.

NASA Astronaut Training and Field Leadership

Dr. Young is on the leadership team for geoscience training for NASA astronauts (Astronaut Candidates and assigned crew) and other personnel. She develops and delivers both classroom and field training, as well as serves as the Field Lead for several of NASA's science field training sites.

Incorporation of science into human spaceflight

Young works to integrate science priorities and objectives into the human exploration of other planetary surfaces. She works with the flight operations community to develop strategies and procedures for the surface and orbital exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Analog field work investigating surface processes on other planets

Young conducts fieldwork in a number of analog environments, including but not limited to Hawaii, Iceland, California, New Mexico, Arizona, Canada, and more. Young studies processes that shape other planetary surfaces, predominantly volcanology and impact cratering. She also works in these environments to test Concepts of Operation for lunar exploration and to train crewmembers and other members of the NASA community in field geology.

Exploration technology and operational field tests

Young has served on the leadership team for several integrated operational field tests run by NASA. She was the Science Lead for the JETT3 and JETT5 Artemis 3 mission simulation analog tests.

She was the Science Lead for both NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) and NXT (Neoteric Exploration Technologies) tests. Young has served as a Theme Lead for two SSERVI (Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute) teams, the RISE2 and GEODES teams*. RISE2 tests the incorporation of handheld and field portable instruments on human surface exploration timelines and planning. GEODES uses geophysical instrumentation in human exploration relevant analog environments.

*RISE2: Remote, In Situ and Synchrotron Studies for Science and Exploration 2 (PI: T. Glotch, Stony Brook)

GEODES: Geophysical Exploration Of the Dynamics and Evolution of the Solar System (PI: N. Schmerr, UMD)

Young was also the Principal Investigator of two NASA-funded PSTAR grants, the TubeX project and the SHyRE project.

TubeX aimed to develop an exploration strategy for lava tubes on the Earth, the Moon, and Mars.

SHyRE (Scientific Hybrid Reality Environments) created a high scientific fidelity Hybrid Reality (HR) environment based off a lava flow in Hawaii. This HR environment has been used in a number of Artemis mission simulations and training runs for Artemis flight controllers.

Young was a member of the Science Team and a crewmember for NASA's Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) analog mission.

Studies of impact craters and volcanology

Young studies impact cratering and volcanology, two dominant surface processes that shape many Solar System bodies. She evaluates lava flow emplacement and modification through a combination of fieldwork and field and laboratory-based geochemistry. She also investigates the bombardment history of the inner Solar System and the impact cratering process by completing fieldwork at terrestrial impact structures and conducting laboratory work on terrestrial and lunar impact samples.

Research Space Scientist

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center - Greenbelt, MD

April 2018 - Present

Exploration Scientist

Jacobs/UTEP at NASA Johnson Space Center - NASA JSC

August 2016 - April 2018

Postdoctoral Research Associate

CRESST/University of Maryland, College Park - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory

July 2014 - August 2016

Graduate Student Research Associate

Arizona State University - School of Earth and Space Exploration

July 2013 - May 2014

NASA Graduate Student Research Fellow

Arizona State University/NASA Johnson Space Center - School of Earth and Space Exploration

July 2010 - July 2013

Graduate Student Research Associate

Arizona State University - School of Earth and Space Exploration

August 2009 - July 2010