Editor’s be aware: This interview was performed in October 2023.
Because the Worldwide Area Station approaches 25 years of steady human presence on Nov. 2, 2025, it’s a significant second to acknowledge those that have been there for the reason that starting—sharing the exceptional achievements of human spaceflight with the world.
When you’ve got ever witnessed the stay protection of a NASA spacewalk or launch, then the fascinating voice of celestial storyteller Rob Navias. Navias effortlessly blends experience, enthusiasm, and profound perception into each mission.
Rob Navias
Public Affairs Officer and Mission Commentator
Navias works throughout the Workplace of Public Affairs on mission operations and tv in NASA Johnson Area Middle’s Workplace of Communications, main public affairs actions involving launches and landings of U.S. astronauts and worldwide companion crew members. He’s iconically often called the voice of NASA.
He has been part of a number of the most impactful moments in area exploration historical past, speaking the details in actual time with unmatched readability. He lined each shuttle mission from the maiden launch of Columbia in April 1981 to Atlantis’ ultimate voyage in July 2011. Navias is understood for connecting others precisely and truthfully to key moments in time.
Navias’ extraordinary contributions to area communications garnered him the 2017 Area Communicator Award from the Rotary Nationwide Award for Area Achievement Basis. This prestigious accolade is offered to people or groups who’ve made exceptional contributions to public understanding and appreciation of area exploration. Navias’ unwavering dedication to NASA was acknowledged with the 2023 Size of Federal Service Award, commemorating his 30-year dedication to the company.
His legacy continued on display screen in Cosmic Dawn, the NASA documentary exploring the James Webb Area Telescope’s unbelievable journey. Featured for his function because the launch commentator throughout Webb’s Christmas Day 2021 liftoff, Navias introduced historic context and lived expertise to one in every of NASA’s most bold missions.
Rob Navias
Public Affairs Officer and Mission Commentator
He started his broadcast profession as a correspondent for networks overlaying the Area Shuttle Program. Earlier than becoming a member of NASA in 1993, Navias had a 25-year profession in broadcast journalism the place he reported the voyage of Pioneer 11, a robotic area probe that studied the asteroid belt and the rings of Saturn, in addition to the take a look at flights for the Area Shuttle Enterprise at Edwards Air Pressure Base in California and the Voyager missions from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Navias additionally lined the Apollo-Soyuz Check Venture as a broadcast journalist. That first worldwide human spaceflight confirmed the world there was a method for nations to work collectively peacefully for a typical objective, Navias acknowledged.
“As soon as the dedication was made to fund the development of a world area station, it broadened the company’s scope to work a number of applications that could possibly be a stepping stone past low Earth orbit,” Navias stated.
ROB Navias
Public Affairs Officer and Mission Commentator
Navias defined that in his time at NASA, he has discovered loads about himself. “The day you cease absorbing info, the day that you just develop bored with studying new issues is the day you might want to stroll away,” he stated. “The problem of spaceflight retains me right here at NASA.”
Navias underscored the significance of nurturing and retaining the company’s sensible workforce who’ve formed the pioneering mindset of human area exploration. He believes mixing expertise, assets, and trade experience is the important thing to returning to the Moon and going to Mars. This collaborative mindset has not solely resulted in establishing a laboratory in low Earth orbit but in addition paved the best way for future missions.