Meet Aaron Yazzie

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, NASA NAAC (Native American Advisory Council) is inviting you to meet Aaron Yazzie. Join live online on Friday, November 12 at 11 AM Mountain Standard Time. Please RSVP by email to receive your event link.

Aaron Yazzie is currently roving on Mars and naming land features in the Navajo language. Aaron is a Mechanical Engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California where he designs mechanical systems for NASA’s robotic space research missions, with a focus on Planetary Sample Acquisition and Handling. His most extensive contributions are for missions to the planet Mars.

Aaron is Diné (Navajo), from a small community bordering the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. He is passionate about STEM outreach to students of all ages, especially those from Indigenous Communities. In 2016 Yazzie was honored by the Navajo Nation Council for “serving as an inspiration to Diné youth and citizens”, and in 2019 received the NASA JPL Bruce Murray Award “for outstanding and consistent dedication in promoting inclusion and excitement in science and education especially among Indigenous Communities.”