NASA Ames Stars of the Month: September 2026

Meta Title: NASA Ames Stars of the Month: September 2026 Honorees Recognized

Meta Description: NASA Ames Research Center’s Science Directorate has named seven September 2026 Stars of the Month, highlighting collaboration, technical expertise, and mission-focused work.

URL Slug: nasa-ames-stars-of-the-month-september-2026

Excerpt: NASA Ames Research Center has recognized seven members of its Science Directorate as Stars of the Month for September 2026. The announcement spotlights the people and collaborative work that support NASA science, technology, and space exploration missions.

# NASA Ames Recognizes September 2026 Stars of the Month

NASA’s Ames Research Center has announced its Science Directorate Stars of the Month for September 2026, recognizing seven people for contributions to the agency’s scientific and exploration goals.

The honorees are Steve Ormsby, Aphrodite Kostakis, Alejando Borlaff, Sarah Nickerson, Martina Caussi, Keiko Nomura, and Stephen Broccardo. According to NASA, the recognition reflects the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative approach needed to advance the agency’s mission to explore Earth, the solar system, and the wider universe.

Employee-recognition announcements may not carry the immediate visibility of a spacecraft launch or a new telescope image. But they offer a useful view of the human work behind NASA programs: the planning, engineering, research, operations, communications, and cross-disciplinary coordination that allow large scientific missions to function.

## What NASA Ames Announced

NASA’s published summary identifies the seven September 2026 honorees and credits them with embodying qualities important to the agency’s work, including technical skill and collaboration.

Steve Ormsby is specifically listed as a “Space Biosciences Star” in the available source summary. Space biosciences is a major area of work at Ames, examining how living systems respond to the unusual conditions of spaceflight. That research has implications for astronaut health, long-duration missions, life-support systems, and scientific understanding of biology under altered gravity and radiation environments.

The source material provided for this article does not include the full individual citations for every recipient. As a result, NASA’s announcement confirms that these seven people were recognized by the Ames Science Directorate, but it does not, in the available text, provide a complete description of each person’s project, job title, or specific accomplishment.

That distinction matters. Recognition programs often honor work that is highly collaborative, and assigning unverified responsibilities to individual honorees would overstate what the public source confirms.

## Why NASA Ames Matters to Space Science

Located in California’s Silicon Valley, NASA Ames Research Center is one of the agency’s major research facilities. Its work spans several disciplines that are central to present and future exploration.

Ames is particularly associated with space biosciences, astrobiology, supercomputing, entry systems, airborne science, intelligent systems, and planetary science. The center has also played important roles in missions and projects involving lunar exploration, small spacecraft, data science, and the search for habitable environments beyond Earth.

This breadth makes collaboration especially important. A science question about whether microbes can survive in a harsh environment, for example, can intersect with spacecraft engineering, instrument design, computational modeling, contamination control, and mission operations. The final result may depend on teams whose work is not always visible outside the research community.

NASA’s Stars of the Month program is one way an organization can acknowledge that reality. Scientific discovery is frequently associated with principal investigators, astronauts, or high-profile missions, but progress also depends on many specialists who develop methods, manage facilities, validate data, maintain critical systems, and connect teams across projects.

## The Value of Recognition in Technical Organizations

Recognition programs do more than celebrate individual effort. At their best, they reinforce the behaviors that make complex technical institutions effective.

NASA projects are often multi-year efforts with strict requirements for safety, reliability, scientific integrity, and budget management. A successful research campaign or mission milestone may involve people with very different professional backgrounds. Scientists may define the questions; engineers build and test hardware; software specialists process data; project managers coordinate timelines; and operations teams ensure that systems continue working as planned.

The qualities highlighted by NASA Ames — entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and a collaborative disposition — are particularly relevant in this environment.

### Technical expertise supports reliable science

NASA research and mission operations rely on detailed, specialized knowledge. Expertise might involve biological experimentation, thermal protection materials, software architecture, planetary observations, data analysis, or laboratory procedures.

In science, technical rigor is essential because conclusions must be supported by evidence that can be assessed, reproduced, or independently reviewed. In engineering, it is equally essential because systems must perform in conditions that are difficult or impossible to repair once a mission is underway.

### Collaboration turns expertise into results

No single discipline can solve every exploration challenge. A robotic mission to another world, for instance, needs scientific objectives, reliable hardware, navigation, communication, power, thermal control, and a plan for collecting and interpreting data.

Collaboration is therefore not simply a workplace ideal. It is an operational necessity. Recognition of collaborative work can help sustain the networks of trust and communication that allow teams to identify problems early and resolve them effectively.

### Entrepreneurial thinking can help NASA adapt

In a NASA context, “entrepreneurial spirit” does not necessarily mean commercial activity. It can describe a willingness to identify opportunities, develop new approaches, make productive use of limited resources, or help move an idea from an early concept toward practical application.

That mindset is relevant as NASA pursues ambitious goals while working with international partners, universities, companies, and other government agencies. New tools such as artificial intelligence, small satellites, advanced computing, autonomous systems, and improved laboratory techniques can create opportunities — but integrating them into mission-ready work requires careful testing and responsible management.

## Space Biosciences and the Challenge of Human Exploration

The reference to a Space Biosciences Star is notable because biology will remain a major factor in long-duration human spaceflight.

Humans evolved under Earth’s gravity, atmospheric pressure, magnetic environment, and daily light cycle. Spaceflight changes many of those conditions. Microgravity can affect muscles, bones, fluid distribution, balance, and immune responses. Radiation exposure beyond low Earth orbit is another concern, particularly for missions that may travel to the Moon or Mars.

NASA’s space biosciences research also includes plants, microbes, cells, and model organisms. These studies can improve understanding of basic biology while helping researchers develop strategies for keeping crews healthy and sustaining life away from Earth.

For future exploration, the questions are practical as well as scientific. How can astronauts maintain physical health during long missions? Which foods can be grown or stored efficiently? How do microbes behave inside spacecraft? What measurements are needed to detect health changes early?

Ames and other NASA centers contribute to work aimed at answering those questions. The September recognition provides a reminder that advances in this field depend on continuing contributions from scientists, technical staff, and program teams.

## What Is Known — and What Is Not

The available NASA summary establishes several key facts:

– NASA Ames Research Center’s Science Directorate named seven Stars of the Month for September 2026.
– The listed honorees are Steve Ormsby, Aphrodite Kostakis, Alejando Borlaff, Sarah Nickerson, Martina Caussi, Keiko Nomura, and Stephen Broccardo.
– NASA describes their contributions in terms of entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaboration.
– Steve Ormsby is identified in the summary as a Space Biosciences Star.

However, the supplied item does not include the complete text of the individual award citations. It therefore does not confirm the exact project, technical achievement, or role associated with each recipient beyond the information NASA has summarized.

Readers seeking the detailed citations should consult the original NASA Ames announcement, which may provide additional context or updated information.

## A Window Into the Work Behind NASA Missions

The September 2026 NASA Ames Stars of the Month recognition is a concise announcement, but it points to a larger truth about space exploration: breakthrough results are built through sustained work by many people.

The public often sees NASA through major milestones — launches, landings, images, and discoveries. Those moments are possible because teams create the scientific, technical, and organizational foundations long before a mission becomes visible.

By recognizing Steve Ormsby, Aphrodite Kostakis, Alejando Borlaff, Sarah Nickerson, Martina Caussi, Keiko Nomura, and Stephen Broccardo, NASA Ames is highlighting the expertise and teamwork that remain essential to exploration. Whether the work involves bioscience, computing, planetary research, or another discipline, the underlying mission is shared: expanding knowledge while developing the capabilities needed to explore farther and more responsibly.

## Authority sources (external links):

– [NASA Ames Research Center’s September 2026 Stars of the Month announcement](https://www.nasa.gov/general/nasa-ames-stars-of-the-month-september-2026/)
– [NASA Ames Research Center overview](https://www.nasa.gov/ames/)
– [NASA Space Biosciences program information](https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esdmd/space-biosciences/)
– [NASA Human Research Program](https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/)
– [NASA’s Artemis program and lunar exploration plans](https://www.nasa.gov/artemis/)

## Internal links (Product