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Faces Behind Gateway – Barbara Nucera: Team Leader

Posted on Friday March 5th, 2021 by julien

In late 2020, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) finalised an agreement to collaborate on the Gateway, with ESA committing to contributing habitation and refueling modules and enhanced lunar communications. This agreement expands the long-time International Space Station partnership with the ESA and NASA to Artemis. The Gateway will provide a sustainable, reusable, and reliable […]

In late 2020, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) finalised an agreement to collaborate on the Gateway, with ESA committing to contributing habitation and refueling modules and enhanced lunar communications. This agreement expands the long-time International Space Station partnership with the ESA and NASA to Artemis. The Gateway will provide a sustainable, reusable, and reliable outpost for astronauts and a staging point for deep space exploration. Developed by NASA and a team of international partners, including ESA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Gateway will be a critical part of returning to the Moon.

Barabara Nucera

Meet Barbara Nucera, ESA’s Houston Team Leader

As a liaison for ESA based in Houston, it’s not surprising that Barbara Nucera frequently receives questions from friends and family in Italy asking when humans will move forward to the Moon and on to Mars. For years, she answered vaguely, but now she is excited to provide more specific answers and tell them about all the progress made so far to accomplish this goal.Growing up in Pecetto, a small village near Alessandria, Italy, Nucera’s passion for math and science led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy. While in school, she became fascinated with space. She was one of few women enrolled in this area and went on to earn a master’s degree in aerospace engineering.

Nucera joined ESA in 2008 as an Italian Space Agency liaison at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and has worked for the International Space Station program. Today, she is one of the ESA liaisons at Johnson, representing her agency in human spaceflight programs. She participates in boards, review meetings, and technical discussions related to the European contribution to the Gateway program. She also facilitates the exchange of information and coordination between other partner agencies.

After working for almost 20 years on human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit, Nucera was excited to embark on a new career journey and represent Europe in deep space exploration as part of the Gateway program.

“I particularly like that my role gives me the unique position of seeing both the American and the European perspectives and the responsibility to bridge between them so that we can continue to work effectively as an international team,” said Nucera.

Nucera enjoys reading, traveling, and exploring new places with her husband and five-year-old son outside of work. She credits her strong upbringing to her grandmother, who taught Nucera that she could do anything she wanted as long she had the determination and passion for it. Nucera is looking to instill the same values in her son.

This blog entry was copied from NASA’s series of profiles featuring the team behind Gateway. To read the previous features, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/in-lunar-orbit