NASA Operations Manager Alison Myoen Helps Prepare Artemis for the Moon

Alison Myoen and her family watched with awe and pride as supercooled propellant flowed into the core stage and NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket roared to life. As operations manager for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program, Myoen helped shape the systems and ground operations that will one day send humans back to the moon.

During her 20-year career at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Myoen has supported missions throughout the Space Shuttle program and the International Space Station program. Today, she applies that experience to NASA’s Artemis program.

A Family Moment at Kennedy Space Center

April 1, 2026, was bright and clear along Florida’s Space Coast. As Myoen and her children counted down with the crowd, the sound of the SLS rocket intensified beneath their feet.

For her children, the launch was an opportunity to see how their mother helped make the mission possible. For Myoen, it was a moment she will never forget.

The moment also gave her an opportunity to reflect on the work that brought her there. As the spacecraft’s offline operations manager, Myoen coordinates the work that takes place long before launch day. In support of Matt Czech, senior vehicle operations manager for ground systems, she develops integration plans and oversees ground operations for Artemis vehicle processing, with a focus on booster and Orion spacecraft operations.

From the Space Shuttle to Artemis

Myoen began her career as a flight crew systems engineer at United Space Alliance, supporting NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Her team handled mission-specific cabin configurations, including food, spacesuits, cargo and payloads for astronauts aboard the shuttle.

After the Space Shuttle program ended, she supported the International Space Station program as a payload integration engineer. In that role, she connected experimental researchers with organizations developing hardware.

Myoen later worked in the Project Office for Test and Operations Support Contracts before joining NASA’s Operations Project Engineering Office. There, she served as the lead for the Artemis I spacecraft payload integration and evolution element.

Preparing for Artemis Mission Operations

That preparation took on new meaning when Myoen supported integrated firing room operations for the first time as a Certified Operations Project Engineer during Artemis I. Earning the certification was an important milestone, but applying it during real-time operations brought a new level of responsibility.

“All decisions and communications directly supported the integrated team’s ability to safely and properly execute testing procedures,” Myoen said.

Working with the unified console reinforced the importance of preparation, collaboration and trust. Myoen carries those lessons into her work coordinating teams today.

Alison Myoen

NASA Exploration Ground Systems Operations Manager

Creating a New Generation of Artemis Explorers

For Myoen, shared experiences are part of what makes Artemis so important. As the Artemis mission continues, she looks forward to her family sharing the moment when astronauts return to the moon.

“That moment captured the imagination of people around the world and showed us what is possible when we come together for a bold goal,” she said of the first Apollo moon landing. “Artemis creates such moments for a whole new generation, and this time they are here to stay.”