LPN is excited host NASA Engineer, Diana Trujillo! This virtual event will be hosted by First Lady of San Antonio and LPN board member, Erika Prosper Nirenberg.

Diana Trujillo was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, where as a young Latina she imagined exploring and traveling through space. At the age of seventeen, Diana immigrated to the United States to pursue her dream of one day working for NASA. Beginning in 2008, she was able to achieve that goal, joining NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an aerospace engineer.

Currently, Diana serves as a Deputy Surface Phase Lead on the Mars 2020 Project, NASA’s next generation Mars rover. In that role, she is responsible for ensuring that the mission’s scientific instruments can successfully identify, evaluate, and collect critical information on the surface of Mars. Previously, she served as Mission Lead and Deputy Team Chief of the Engineering division of Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory), NASA’s largest and most advanced Mars rover to date.

Diana earned a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, with additional studies at the University of Florida. She is also a graduate of Miami-Dade Community College and the NASA Academy.

Diana is part of the TECHNOLOchicas campaign to raise awareness among young Latinas and their families about opportunities and careers in technology; a committee member of The Brooke Owens Fellowship, a highly competitive program that provides internship and mentorship to extraordinary undergraduate women seeking careers in aviation or space exploration; a member of the board of the Columbia Memorial Space Center, a science center open to the public and based in a predominantly latino community; and a member of the board of the Children’s Center at Caltech, a center that is revolutionizing early child development education. She is a recipient of the 22 Mas award, presented by the government of Colombia to the 22 most inspiring Colombians.

Here are some interesting facts about Mars:

• Mars has about one tenth of the mass of Earth
• Mars is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system
• Sunsets on Mars are blue
• Mars has 687 days of the year