TEMPLE, Texas — “I’ve always been interested in space especially since the first special launch, I was eight years old when it happened — that was like, 'How can I do this? I want to do this — how can I get involved in this',” Keelan Hamilton said.
Keelan Hamilton is a NASA researcher and a Temple Native — he attended Meredith Elementary, Travis Middle and graduated from Temple High School in 1990. He stayed in Central Texas for college and took science classes between semesters at Temple College.
“They said 'Oh, you know, just become a science, engineer, doctor or whatever and study hard and see what happens,” Hamilton said.
"It was just a matter of which direction are you going to go into.”
He says he joined NASA in 2006 working with the crew and thermal systems division, helping certify items for use on the space shuttle and ISS. Now he serves as the research integration subject matter expert for the international space station research project at NASA’s Johnson space center.
“We do research objectives we work with the people doing science aboard the space stations,” Hamilton said.
Temple College in Temple, Hamilton is showing how life is at NASA. Educating our neighbors about space and science and how it’s important to life on earth. NASA has 20 different locations offering jobs that help with space engineers, IT and cyber security, accountants, administration, writers and researchers.
“If you’re interested in something, find out as much as you can about it. It doesn’t have to be science. Just find something to do study hard and work toward it," Hamilton said.
