Derek Wang Portrait

“The big thing is trying to figure out the best way to communicate. And to interact and engage. Being virtual is great, but there’s nothing like being able to sit down and talk to a parent or a senior who just wants to reflect on what it was like seeing Apollo. Or talking to someone who says, ‘I could never work for NASA,’ and telling them, ‘Yes, you can — I’m not from a science background. I graduated with a business marketing degree.’ We have to have communications — social media specialists, graphic designers, things like that. I think it’s very fulfilling, from my perspective, when we go out and engage with the public to show what NASA is really about. It takes twenty thousand people to run NASA — and we’re not all astronauts and scientists and engineers. I try to bring that perspective.” Derek Wang, Director of Communications for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, poses for a portrait, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020 in Virginia. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)