Essex Engineer Powers NASA's Mission to Return to the Moon

A woman who dreamed of becoming an astronaut as a child is now building the spacecraft that will take humanity back to the Moon.

Sian Cleaver, 36, works as a spacecraft engineer for Airbus in Germany, where she's helping create the propulsion system for NASA's Artemis II mission. The mission, launching this April, will carry four astronauts to orbit the Moon, bringing humans closer to the lunar surface than we've been since 1972.

Growing up in Chelmsford, Essex, Cleaver faced the "Essex girl" stereotype that the Oxford Dictionary once defined as "unintelligent, promiscuous and materialistic." She never let it slow her down. "I don't think stereotypes like that have ever bothered me," she says.

Her love for astronomy started at Chelmsford County High School and led her to study physics at Durham University. Now she's part of a team building the European Service Module, including massive solar arrays that will power the spacecraft.

Artemis II will make history with Christina Koch onboard as the only female crew member. For an entire generation who has never witnessed a Moon landing, this mission represents a chance to experience what their parents and grandparents saw in the Apollo era. "We are about to live that again," Cleaver says.

Why This Inspires

Cleaver's journey matters beyond her personal achievement. She regularly visits schools to show young people that women belong in these roles. "It's good for younger people to see women doing jobs like mine so that when they start thinking of these jobs in the future, they don't automatically picture a man doing them," she explains.

Women make up only 25% of the UK's 9.4 million STEM workers, according to Women in Tech. Cleaver feels the weight of that gap. "I feel like there are younger women who are looking up to me, but I wish there were more that I can look up to as well," she admits.

Despite being outnumbered, she stays driven by her childhood dream. "I always wanted to be an astronaut and that is always what inspired me and gave me drive. I still have that dream," she says.

Her advice to young women facing doubters? "If you've got big ambitions and it feels like people are bogging you down, just go for it anyway." She's excited to witness what comes next: "I want to see the first woman walk on the Moon."

For now, she's grateful to play her part in making history happen.