HOUSTON — A Boone County High School graduate is playing a key role in NASA’s next chapter of human spaceflight.
Dr. Taylor Schlotman works as a human performance engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, where she studies how astronauts’ bodies respond to life in space — and how quickly they can recover once they return to Earth or land on the moon.
Schlotman has spent nearly six years with NASA, starting in 2020. She said the path wasn’t something she planned step-by-step, but came from being in the right places, meeting the right people and doing the work along the way.
Watch to see how Schlotman's work impacts NASA's missions:
Today, she is part of the team supporting NASA’s Artemis program, including the Artemis II mission. Her work focuses on the Artemis Standard Measures study, which tracks how astronauts adapt physically during spaceflight and recover afterward.
That includes testing crew members before launch, monitoring them during the mission and evaluating recovery once they return.
Schlotman said one of the most unforgettable moments of her career so far was watching a launch alongside colleagues and family, followed by the emotional return of the crew after splashdown.
"I always hoped, dreamed and worked to put myself in the position to be able to be here," said Schlotman. "Along the way, the stars aligned and I met the right people, did the right work and made my way here. It has been really rewarding."
She said being part of those moments and contributing to research that will help future lunar missions has been both surreal and rewarding.
Schlotman graduated from Boone County High School in 2009.
