Employee Spotlight
CULTURE SPOTLIGHT
Aspen Power Engineer Joins NASA Analog Mission and Brings Back Lessons on Team Collaboration
Aspen Power engineer Guadalupe “Lupe” Espinoza-Gastelum recently participated in NASA’s Exploration Atmosphere 7 mission, a 15-day analog simulation supporting Artemis III, the 2027-2028 mission that will return astronauts to the Moon.
Analog” missions are ground-based simulations, whereas “flight” missions or “operational” missions leave Earth and operate in space. While the mission tested physical endurance and technical performance, the most meaningful challenge for Lupe was learning how to operate as a team with people whose backgrounds and approaches differed significantly from his own.
The mission took place inside NASA’s historic 20-foot altitude chamber at Johnson Space Center, a facility used for human spaceflight testing since the Gemini and Apollo programs.
“Everyone was different, sometimes wildly so,” he said. “People communicated differently and solved problems differently. Some jumped in immediately while others held back. In a sealed environment with strict protocols, small interpersonal gaps can become big gaps very quickly, so we had to make a real effort to pull each other in.”
The crew eventually built trust through constant communication and shared problem-solving. Mission control also regularly introduced unexpected challenges that forced the group to collaborate. At times one person would instinctively take the lead while another hesitated, but the team learned to adjust, redistribute responsibilities, and rely on each other’s strengths.
By the end of the mission, Lupe said, “We were eight people with almost nothing in common except our commitment to the larger mission. That was enough to make us a strong team.”
He found that the experience mirrored his work at Aspen Power in surprising ways. “Our company brings together people from engineering, finance, development, construction, marketing, and more. Everyone has different pressures and different perspectives, but when we focus on our shared mission, those differences become assets rather than obstacles.”
Lupe also believes experiences like this highlight the diverse talents that people across Aspen bring to the organization. “Your skills do not only belong to one field. You can take what you know and apply it to something totally different. That is what made this collaboration feel meaningful.”
Although he describes his own role as small, the data gathered from Lupe and his crew will directly support Artemis III, the mission in which astronauts will set foot on the Moon again for the first time in more than five decades.
“Being part of something that contributes to that next step for humanity felt surreal,” he said. “But the biggest lesson was simple. When you believe in the larger mission, people with different backgrounds can become an effective team very quickly.”
