El Paso Native Helps Power Historic NASA Moon Mission

It’s always great when you can say that you were able to witness history as it was happening, and that’s what many people can say if they followed as NASA’s Artemis mission unfolded live on TV. I watched the live landing and it was one of those “wow, this is history” moments you don’t forget. 

Seeing it all happen in real time felt great for so many reasons. Artemis II marked the first time humans traveled beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 which was over 50 years ago! On top of that, Artemis III took the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon, making this not just a scientific breakthrough, but a powerful cultural moment too. 

It was great to witness history, but for one El Paso man he was able to witness it and be part of this historic mission!

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From El Paso… to the moon, literally.

A post shared to FitFam El Paso’s Instagram page had many El Pasoans cheering as we all found out that El Pasoan Ivan Palacios was part of this historic journey. 

Ivan is a Hanks High School graduate and he was hired as a senior spacecraft electrician with ASRC Federal in Florida. However, his journey wasn’t a straight shot to space. 

According to the post, after high school Ivan worked a mix of jobs from construction sites to Wingstop before making a life-changing decision to enlist in the United States Navy. As a missile technician, he earned top-secret clearance and worked aboard Ohio-class submarines, the largest in the Navy’s fleet.

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After completing his service, Ivan briefly worked with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office before landing a role that would quite literally take him out of this world. When Ivan became the senior spacecraft electrician with ASRC Federal in Florida, he would also be joining a massive team responsible for building Artemis II.

“I’m here representing El Paso and making a name for myself,” Ivan shared with FitFam. “I have no college education; I’ve just worked hard, stayed dedicated and made good choices.”

Ivan’s story is proof that big dreams don’t require a perfect path, just persistence.