Q&A with Gateway: Meet Terri Castillo, Gateway Integrated Safety Review Panel Chair for the Safety & Mission Assurance Office
The Gateway, a multipurpose outpost orbiting the Moon and vital part of NASA’s Artemis program, is built with sound engineering and operational principles that will serve as a staging point for deep space exploration and model for future missions to Mars. As the Integrated Safety Review Panel chair for the Safety and Mission Assurance Office for the Gateway program, NASA Johnson Space Center-based Terri Castillo is responsible for leading a panel of program and subject-matter experts reviewing Gateway vehicle, payload, and government-furnished equipment hazard analyses to assure the safety of the Gateway and crew.
Keep reading to learn more about Terri Castillo!
What does your office do for the Gateway program?
The Safety and Mission Assurance Office provides expertise in safety, reliability, quality, and risk to assist the Gateway program in making safe and success-oriented decisions every step of the way from here to the Moon.
What are you most excited to share about Gateway and what it will do for human exploration as part of the Artemis program?
Occasionally, I get to talk to school children about what I do at NASA, and it’s fantastic how quickly they are able to comprehend what NASA has planned for Gateway, and that’s exactly what I’m most excited about — how Gateway takes everything we’ve learned on the International Space Station (ISS) and other programs to create a waypoint for future travelers to pass through on their way back down to the lunar surface or outbound to Mars.
How has your personal background influenced your work in the Gateway program?
From a very young age, I wanted to work for NASA. At some point, that goal fused with my love of architecture, and I began looking for opportunities to assist in creating a sustained human habitation in space. With two parents who spent their careers in the insurance industry, working in the fields of safety and risk came naturally to me, and I spent 11 years working in those areas for the ISS Program before moving into the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) safety community for another five years.
For someone who is so interested in how humans interact with their environment, EVA was a thrill. There’s no closer interaction than between a human and her single-person spacecraft (suit!), and the effort of maintaining an aging suit fleet while standing up an all-new exploration suit design taught me tons about the value of risk characterization, the necessity of a working partnership between the safety and engineering communities, and the pace and rigor required during the formulation of requirements and early design. I wouldn’t have been prepared for my current position had I not lived this exciting path!
What has been your favorite memory while working at NASA?
That’s a hard question to answer. Between three summer internships and 17+ years full time at Johnson, I’ve been blessed with so many funny, exciting, and poignant memories. One memory I share often is sitting on the safety console in the ISS Mission Engineering Room (MER) during an EVA where the crew was investigating potential issues with the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint. I’ll never forget the moment when the crew pulled off one of the covers, and half of the MER stood up and pointed at their TVs to see images of massive surface damage to the joint that the helmet cameras were sending down. It was one of the many amazing occurrences where I saw the engineering, safety, operations, and program communities pull together to find a way to fix the problem.
Being surrounded by such a high-performing group of people, what’s a great piece of advice you’ve learned?
I’ve learned that we shouldn’t shy away from “healthy tension.” Working in human spaceflight, every organization has their focus and do their jobs really well, but when you get into those sticky grey spaces where the risk trade is not a slam dunk, there’s going to be a lot of discussion. Even in the best scenario, there’s going to be healthy tension where people simply do not agree, and that’s OK. That’s evidence that the process is working and, in the end, the most important outcome is that the risk is characterized accurately and transparently so that the risk acceptors can make the best decision.
In line with JSC’s DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE, how do you see yourself fitting into the vision?
While all three are essential to executing JSC’s vision, I most closely align with UNITE. Whether it’s in my current position or just how I move through life, I believe we must bring together a diverse set of experiences and skillsets, united for a common purpose, and that a team must synergistically work together in order to achieve the visionary goals we’ve set for ourselves. Individuals won’t return humanity to the Moon; high-performing teams will.
More about you:
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Andover, a small, rural town in Connecticut.
If you could temporarily live (or visit) in another part of the world, where would that be?
I have both French and Gaelic ancestry. While I would LOVE to live in northern France, I’ve never been to the UK and hope to visit soon. I find Scotland, in particular, totally fascinating.
How long have you been at JSC?
I did three summer internships with area contractors in 1999, 2000, and 2001. I picked up with SAIC full time in late 2003, moved to ARES in 2010, and then became a civil servant in 2015. I’ve been working full time at Johnson for 17+ years.
Describe yourself in five words:
Tenacious, creative, loyal, passionate, and optimistic.
Favorite thing(s) to do to unwind:
I enjoy reading, crafting, watching movies, and camping.
How has the pandemic shaped your work style?
I’ve always had kind of a flexible approach to work, where I work any time I need to and anywhere I can, but the pandemic has certainly pushed that to the limit. With three kids learning from home and a husband working from home, flexibility has been key. One thing I’ve enjoyed about all of this is the lack of commute, which has allowed me to seamlessly integrate morning or evening meetings into our family schedule. It is challenging, though, trying to be a good learning coach while chairing a safety review. I joked recently that, after this, my job as “only” the GISRP (Gateway Integrated Safety Review Panel) chair will seem “easy” by comparison.
Name one thing we would be surprised to learn about you.
I sang in an a cappella group in college, the Carnegie Mellon SoundBytes, and I now sing a cappella in the St. Gregory choir at Mary Queen. :-)
At Johnson, we are laser-focused on the next: going forward to our lunar neighbor to build outposts in uncharted territory while revolutionizing the strategies and technologies that will eventually open up the universe. The Gateway is a critical component of the Artemis program and embodies Johnson's DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE vision: We dare to expand frontiers. We unite with our partners to complete bold missions. We explore space to benefit humanity.
DARE | UNITE | EXPLORE
