When Caeley Looney packed her bags for Texas, she had no idea she was starting a job quite as historic as it is. The new chapter in her career quickly turned into a groundbreaking milestone in space exploration, with Firefly Aerospace up next to take their lander Blue Ghost to the moon at the end of this year.
Caeley, who holds a Master’s in Space Systems Engineering and has a background in small satellites, is now the first woman to serve as a flight director for a lunar landing mission. She is joined by three female assistant flight directors, all undergoing cross-training to ensure mission readiness.
“I watched other commercial programs give it a try—not a single woman in their control rooms. Now it’s our turn, and I’m really excited to be given this opportunity,” says Caeley. “It’s been hardcore training and preparations, running 12-hour tests to make this a success. It’s been crazy, but it’s all good crazy because the end result is literally making history.”
Long before diving into daily simulations and environmental testing, Caeley was a robotics student with dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Today, she still draws great strength from that creative spirit, which fuels her work with her STEM-focused nonprofit, Reinvented Inc.
“Creativity and engineering go more hand-in-hand than most people will ever realize. In college, when you’re told to follow the textbook, you start to think that everything is very black and white,” says Caeley. “But when you get into the industry, the reality is that to be innovative and to do awesome things takes a lot of new ideas. Make sure you don’t lose that piece of yourself while you’re trying to find your way in STEM.”
Reinvented Initiatives
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Reinvented Magazine: As the founder of the nation’s first print magazine for women in STEM, Caeley aspires to break barriers and inspire girls in low-income and rural areas to pursue the field.
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Princesses with Powertools: Country-wide, volunteer princesses teach students how to create STEM-based projects, showing that femininity and engineering aren’t mutually exclusive.
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STEM Fashion Show: This past summer, (role)models and designers traveled to Austin for Cosmic Couture—a night to remember with STEM-centric designs and fun fashion galore.
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Space Gala: Held at the Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden this coming November, women in STEM get to mingle while dressed in their favorite ball gowns and steel-toed boots.
Follow Caeley’s journey at caeleylooney.com and @CaeleySTEMS on TikTok and Instagram.