Inside a NASA Contractor Job: Systems Engineer Salary & Artemis Missions
4/6/202625 min
Systems Engineer
This week—timely with Artemis II—we revisit a standout episode with NASA contractor systems engineer Johanna Siegel.
Johanna reveals what it really takes to build mission-critical hardware for the Artemis program—and the career opportunities and earnings potential that come with it. In this deep dive, discover how engineers translate complex requirements like radiation protection and life support systems into hardware that protects astronaut lives, plus real salary insights and how to break into aerospace engineering careers.
If you're exploring aerospace engineering, space careers, or high...
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First 90 secondsMerav Ozeri· Host0:00
[gentle music] Hi, welcome back to How Much Can I Make? I'm Merav Ozeri. Since Artemis II launched last week, it felt like a good time to revisit a segment from last year. In this episode, I spoke with Joanna Siegel, a young systems engineer working for a NASA contractor focused on astronaut health and comfort. She primarily works on Artemis III and the lunar lander, but also shares insight on Artemis II. I found it fascinating, and I hope you do, too. Here is Joanna Siegel. [gentle music] So thank you again for doing it. I'm so excited.
Joanna Siegel· Guest0:37
Of course.
Merav Ozeri· Host0:38
And let's start by telling us what is your job exactly. What is it that you do?
Joanna Siegel· Guest0:43
So it's a little bit complicated to explain, but essentially, I'm a systems engineer. And broadly, what a systems engineer does is ensure that all of the different components or elements of a larger system will be able to fit together into a finished product. I work at a contractor for NASA called KBR, and KBR holds, uh, the Human Health and Performance contract. This basically means that if you work on this contract, you will be somehow interacting with the health and medical needs of the crew for a various amount of different missions. So some people on this contract work on the International Space Station and do, um, real-time operations with the astronauts