Cosmic Adventures

Discover the marvels of our cosmic backyard through the eyes of the robotic spacecraft sent out to explore it. Aerospace engineer and National Geographic Explorer Tracy Drain works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop, test and operate the complex machines that uncover

some of the countless mysteries within (and way beyond) our solar system. Among her projects: rovers on Mars, a mission to Jupiter and a hunt for exoplanets that reshaped our entire understanding of the galaxy. Drain is a 2024 National Geographic Society Wayfinder Award recipient, and she is currently the lead flight systems engineer on the Europa Clipper mission, which should arrive at Jupiter in 2030.

Go behind the scenes on spacecraft builds with aerospace engineer Tracy Drain to answer some of the most intriguing questions about our universe.