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Kenneth Harris: From Teen Intern to Engineer

Man in protective gear works on technology
In this image, Kenneth Harris II works in the clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Kenneth Harris II, a senior engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has worked on five different satellite missions since he started working at NASA at age 16, including the Magnetic Multiscale Mission or MMS satellite and the Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM) satellite, a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Kenny also worked on the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) J1 and J2 missions, a joint project between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. In 2017, he led a team that successfully incorporated, the main science component, the Integrated Science Instrument Module into the James Webb Space Telescope.

At age 16, he volunteered as a counselor at a NASA Goddard space camp. He then served as an intern in the High School Internship Program, beginning his affiliation with NASA.

Recently, he was named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 Class of 2020. In this image, Harris works in the clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

View the Black History Month Image Gallery.

Image Credit: NASA Goddard/Chris Gunn