Kay Bond’s journey to NASA started when she attended high school in Coppell, Texas, northwest of Dallas. Bond signed up for an independent study offered through her gifted and talented program that allowed her to explore various career paths and industries. Sue Crank, a female engineer at nearby Texas Instruments, agreed to be her mentor.
During the time Bond shadowed her, a tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston was arranged that changed the trajectory of her life.
After high school, Bond continued to explore different areas within the agency while attending Texas A&M University in College Station, about 100 miles outside of Houston. She participated in a cooperative education internship with NASA while completing her degree in Aerospace Engineering, an opportunity that put her on the path to her current role.
Today, Bond serves as the export control and contract and resource manager for teams within NASA’s Gateway Program. She leads a team that creates and manages processes for releasing or exporting data to Gateway’s international and commercial partners.
The Gateway spacecraft is a complex system of modules and equipment designed to orbit the Moon as a part of Artemis for at least 15 years, so the management and control of Gateway’s technical information is critical.
“As someone that was born after the Apollo Moon landings, establishing an international, sustainable presence around the Moon is the greatest challenge and will be the ultimate accomplishment of humanity for our generation,” Bond said. “I’m excited for the sense of unity and accomplishment that it will bring across the globe.”
Artemis is an international partnership, which makes it imperative to follow export control laws and protect U.S. technology from falling into the wrong hands as the team exchanges information, hardware, and software with partners and contractors.
In addition to leading the Gateway team, Bond also leads a working group of the Artemis program export teams and is integrating processes to make sure they’re consistent across all Artemis programs, NASA centers and partners.
The Gateway team’s recently implemented export control process is so important to the program’s success that NASA recently recognized Bond and her team with a Silver Group Achievement Award, and Bond was individually recognized by receiving the Silver Achievement Medal at the 2021 Agency Honor Awards.
“I’ve always been inspired, hardworking, and driven,” she said, explaining how her background has influenced her work. “Bonded by a pursuit of exploration that’s greater than ourselves, the Gateway team shares similar traits as we work together to accomplish this really big mission of returning to the surface of the Moon in a new and unique way.”
Bond said her recent achievements and recognition are the result of her desire to strive for excellence, which is fueled by her kids, Austin and Marie, and husband, Andrew. She spends a lot of time traveling and visiting different amusement parks all over the country with her family.
“It motivates me in my job that my children have an opportunity in their childhood to be inspired by something great,” said Bond. “I encourage them to dream big and collaborate with others to make their dreams a reality.”
Learn more about the Gateway program at: https://www.nasa.gov/gateway.