Tracy Drain

Tracy Drain is a flight systems engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is the deputy chief engineer for the JUNO mission, which arrived at Jupiter in June 2016.

Education Tracy Drain was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She was always curious about space and the formation of the Solar System, and decided to study mechanical engineering in 11th Grade while at Waggener High School. Drain was a big fan of Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Throughout high school she competed in mathematics competitions and insisted on watching Space Shuttle launches on television. Drain received a bachelor's degree Mechanical Engineering from University of Kentucky in 1998 and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000. She was the first person in her immediate family to receive a college degree. Whilst studying at university, she spent two summers as an intern for NASA Langley. Drain is currently the lead flight systems engineer for NASA's Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in 2024 to the Jupiter system to study one of Jupiter's moons.

Public engagement Actor and space tourist astronaut William Shatner with Drain at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Tracy Drain is involved with a range of activities to communicate her enthusiasm for engineering with the public. She is an Exchange Consultant for the National Academy of Sciences, a program that connects the entertainment industry with scientists and engineers to create accurate science in both film and TV. She has spoken about women in film and engineering alongside Diane Kruger at the Sloan Film Summit. She takes every opportunity to encourage girls and young people into STEM careers. Drain was involved with the promotion of the 2016 20th Century Fox film Hidden Figures, in a series of films entitled Hidden Figures, Modern Figures, and took part in several panel discussions. In 2017 Drain gave a TEDx talk at the ArtCentre College of Design, "Beauty of the Fall".

Awards 2007 - NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for exceptional performance in the development of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission's transition to Science Phase Activities

2009 - NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for exceptional achievement in guiding and managing the Kepler Launch, Commissioning and Science Operations readiness effort

2015 - JPL Bruce Murray Award for exceptional support for the education of minority and female STEM students through community programs, distance learning and public events

2015 - Women in Engineering ProActive Network Women in Engineering Champion Award

Personal Tracy Drain is married to fellow JPL engineer, Ted Drain.