Editor’s Note: This is the sixth and final feature introducing you to members of NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) team at Kennedy Space Center in Florida who will launch the Lucy probe on its journey to deep space.
By Danielle Sempsrott
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft is scheduled to launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Oct. 16, 2021. The mission will be the first ever to study the Jupiter Trojan asteroids – two separate swarms of asteroids that are thought to be remnants of the initial material that formed the planets within the solar system. The mission will provide a glimpse into the origins of our solar system as we know it.
Name: Omar Baez
Official title: NASA Senior Launch Director
Job responsibilities: As LSP’s senior launch director, I am responsible for planning and directing launch campaigns and countdowns for our NASA science and robotic spacecraft. I also work with all government users of commercial launch services to deconflict our combined launch dates and ensure our NASA LSP missions have a reserved spot to launch in the range manifests, or schedules. I have the privilege of working with an incredible team of engineers, scientists, and other professionals to assure perfectly performing rockets for our customers’ precious cargo.
Time working for NASA: I have worked at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for 31 years. I spent five years with NASA Expendable Launch Vehicles, and I’ve been with LSP for 23 years.
Degrees earned: I received an Associate of Arts in liberal arts from Miami Dade Community College, Florida; a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Florida International University; a Master of Science in management from Florida Institute of Technology; and completed the Space Studies Program at the International Space University through Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Hometown: I was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and now live in Cape Canaveral.
Hobbies: I enjoy participating in watersports and tinkering with machinery.
Fun fact: I blast Def Leppard, Metallica, and Rush on the way in to launch. It’s my little superstition.