A Catalan engineer will be a controller in NASA's next expeditions to the Moon

Tarragona.- Aeronautical engineer Roger Lascorz (Reus, 1993) has been working at NASA since 2019 and will be a controller in the upcoming expeditions to the Moon, Artemis III and IV in 2027 and 2028, from the Mission Evaluation Room (MER) in Houston (United States). "I am responsible for the imaging systems of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program, the part of NASA that deals with everything that happens when astronauts are in space or on the Moon," explains Lascorz in an interview with EFE. His job is to make sure all the cameras work: those inside and outside the ship, those the astronauts wear on their suits, and those that will document their first steps on the lunar surface. He also oversees other avionics systems. «During active missions, I will be in the Mission Evaluation Room, where engineers monitor all the ship's systems in real time. If something fails or behaves unexpectedly, we analyze the data and find the solution so that the flight control team can communicate it to the astronauts», says Lascorz, who emphasizes that it is an enormous responsibility because «there is no margin for error in space».

In NASA since 2019

The engineer, who is 33 years old, has been at NASA since 2019: he started at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was consolidating within the Artemis program until, in January 2025, he was promoted to EHP Imagery System Manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. We recommend reading: Lascorz uses cinema to explain where he works. "Do you remember in the movie 'Apollo 13' the scene of the square filter that doesn't fit in the round hole, when the engineers on the ground empty a box of materials on a table and have to improvise a solution with what the astronauts have on board? That scene happens precisely in the MER," he says. «In that sequence, about 70 specialists who knew every system of the ship inside and out found that solution», he adds.
The aeronautical engineer closely experienced the recent Artemis II expedition, the first manned mission to the Moon in more than half a century, which allowed to break the record of distance from the planet set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. "They were intense and rewarding days. The launch, on April 1st, was a moment I will not forget. Seeing that rocket take off with four people on board, knowing all the work behind it, is something that makes your stomach clench. Then came ten days following the mission. That everything went so well is the best possible validation of the work of thousands of people," he points out.

"It's a feeling that is priceless"

He previously handled the imaging and voice systems, cameras, and ground communications infrastructure that make the launch possible. "During the mission I remained available in case anyone needed me, but I was also able to experience it as a spectator, very happy and excited because a part of what was happening up there involved some of my work. It's a feeling that is priceless," he assures. Lascorz is already looking at the next expeditions to the Moon: "Artemis III will be a test mission in low Earth orbit, similar to Apollo IX, in which the capabilities of orbital rendezvous and docking maneuvers will be tested. It is still being defined and the requirements for my field of work are not yet specified." It will be Artemis IV, he continues, "which will make the leap to the lunar surface." "That's where my work as head of imaging will gain enormous complexity. Documenting astronauts walking on the Moon is a technical challenge of another dimension," he specifies.

A Dream Come True

Lascorz is fulfilling his childhood dream of working at NASA. "Since I was little, it was clear to me that I wanted to dedicate myself to space, and at 16 I made the decision to leave Reus for the United States to achieve it," he says. He graduated in Physics with 'magna cum laude' from the Advanced Academy of the University of West Georgia, in Carrollton, and then pursued a degree and a master's in Aerospace Engineering with the highest honors at Georgia Tech. "After several attempts, I received the call from NASA and I couldn't believe it," he recalls. He lives in Houston and previously spent a few years in Florida, near Cape Canaveral. "It's a very different life from the one in Reus, but very enriching. Houston is a huge and diverse city, with a very special energy around the space world, but, as much as I have adapted to life here, Reus is always present," he concludes.