From Seneca Valley to Mission Control
- Nicole Tafe
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Former Seneca Valley student Gary Jordan helps bring America’s space missions—including the recent Artemis II—to audiences around the world from inside NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Growing up in Cranberry, Gary Jordan never imagined he would one day sit inside mission control helping narrate one of NASA’s most historic events—the launch of Artemis II.
“I hardly believed a place like NASA would give a guy like me a second thought,” says Jordan.
Today, however, the 34-year-old Seneca Valley graduate serves as manager of communications and public affairs at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where he helps bridge the gap between groundbreaking space exploration and the public watching around the world.
Jordan’s path to NASA was anything but traditional. Though he loved science fiction growing up—especially “Star Wars”—he never considered himself having a future in the space industry. Instead, he focused on exploring different interests during his time in the Seneca Valley School District.
“At Seneca, I went through more of an exploratory phase,” he says. “I tried almost every sport and found out the hard way that I am not athletic. But I was good at TV production, music and theater.”
That willingness to try different things eventually opened unexpected doors. Jordan graduated from Penn State University in 2014 with a degree in marketing, combining his creative interests with analytical thinking. During a college career fair, he noticed a NASA recruitment booth and decided to take a chance.
“I saw NASA there and their booth looked pretty cool. I was accepted to an internship program called Pathways. I fell in love very quickly and never turned back.”
That internship launched a career that has now spanned more than a decade. Jordan and his wife moved to Houston in 2015, where they now live with their two young sons. Over the years, his work has included media relations, live broadcasting, video production, social media and strategic communications surrounding some of NASA’s biggest missions.
His most high-profile assignment yet came with the Artemis II mission—NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission and a major step toward returning humans to the moon. Jordan served as one of the mission commentators during launch coverage, a role requiring intense preparation and precision.
“I participated in 22 simulations where we used simulated data to run through different scenarios—mostly where things go wrong,” says Jordan. “I studied the spacecraft, the launch vehicle, the ascent profile, abort scenarios and the like.”
Despite the pressure, years of experience prepared him for the moment.
“I was nervous through the countdown, but once the solid rocket boosters ignited, training took over,” he explains. “My job was to represent the tone and preparedness of all the flight controllers in that room with me, and I took that very seriously.”
Behind the scenes, Jordan’s responsibilities extended far beyond commentary. In preparation for Artemis II, he coordinated communication operations across multiple NASA centers and organizations, creating a 200-page operations guide for the team supporting mission coverage.
The work reflects the growing importance of public engagement in modern space exploration. As NASA enters a new era of lunar missions, Jordan plays a key role in helping audiences understand not only the science behind the missions, but also the human stories that make them meaningful.
“Knowing that Artemis II is just the beginning is what excites me most. It’s the first crewed Artemis flight, and there is more to come to return to the surface and build a sustained presence there.”
Gary Jordan’s story reminds us all that careers don’t always follow predictable paths—and that curiosity, creativity and a willingness to explore can sometimes lead all the way to the stars.
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