Kellie Gerardi: From Filmmaking to the Stars - A Journey of Education, Exploration, and Inspiration
Kellie Gerardi's journey into the space industry is a testament to the idea that humanity's future in space requires diverse contributions from artists, engineers, and everyone in between. Her story, detailed in her book "Not Necessarily Rocket Science," confirms that a passion for space exploration is the primary requirement for participation in this exciting field.
A Non-Traditional Path to Space
Kellie Gerardi is an aerospace and defense professional and a science communicator. Her career path showcases that there is no single degree or background required to contribute to the future of space exploration. In fact, her professional journey is proof of that.
Early Influences and Education
Born and raised in Jupiter, Florida, Kellie Gerardi’s fascination with space began early. “Growing up here, my bedroom window faced northeast and that stretch of sky over Cape Canaveral,” she recalls. “I could literally watch space shuttle launches from my bedroom.” This early exposure ignited a spark that would later define her career.
After graduating from Jupiter Community High School in 2007, Gerardi moved to New York City to study documentary filmmaking. She attended Barnard College and later matriculated at NYU, graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2011 with a degree in film. Initially, she envisioned a career with NatGeo or the Science Channel.
A Chance Encounter and a Shift in Trajectory
A chance encounter at The Explorers Club, where she worked coat check, opened her mind to the opportunities in commercial spaceflight. Meeting Richard Garriott de Cayeux, an astronaut who would become her mentor, broadened her perspective. "I adjusted the limiter on my imagination after meeting Richard Garriott de Cayeux," she says.
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Ironically, Gerardi graduated from NYU in 2011, the same year the national space shuttle program was retired. However, the emerging commercial spaceflight industry captured her attention. Fascinated by the possibilities, Gerardi pursued graduate coursework in bioastronautics at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences in Colorado. "I was really motivated to be part of opening up access to space and democratizing access to space and expanding Earth’s economic sphere," she says. "As a new grad, to me it felt like, wow, that’s the Star Trek future I want to be a part of!"
Career and Contributions to Space Exploration
Gerardi's career spans various roles within the space industry, reflecting her diverse skills and interests.
Early Career and Diverse Roles
She began her career at the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Since 2015, she has been working with Palantir Technologies, a company that helps organizations govern artificial intelligence across public and private networks, including Air and Space Force applications. As a lead on the company's mission operations team, she contributes to building software for space. She also serves as the director of human spaceflight operations for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences.
"I’ve really spanned everything from policy to hardware to everything in between to try to contribute to this industry," she says. Throughout her career, Gerardi has also been heavily focused on parabolic flight and microgravity research. She has flown multiple parabolic research campaigns to evaluate commercial spacesuits and conduct bioastronautics research in microgravity with Project PoSSUM, an acclaimed suborbital research group.
Virgin Galactic Flight and Research Mission
On November 2, 2023, Gerardi boarded the VSS Unity at Spaceport America in New Mexico as part of the Galactic 05 mission. "I felt like I was walking toward my destiny when I boarded the spacecraft," she says. "This spaceflight was the great ‘before and after’ divide in my life, and that was in the forefront of my mind."
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During her flight, Gerardi conducted health care research funded by the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. For example, she monitored her own glucose levels in an effort to learn more about treating diabetes-a condition she is personally invested in. “There is evidence that suggests long-duration spaceflight induces insulin resistance, but we don’t know yet how quickly that starts,” she says. “My mother is insulin dependent, so this research is close to me and my family.” She also wore a biomonitoring suit called Astroskin under her gear to monitor how the body reacts to the journey.
The experience was profound. "Virgin Galactic has cameras in the cabin, so I could just watch this video of my breath catching in my throat over and over," she recalls. "It was like a comic book jaw-drop moment, where I was just looking at this jewel of a planet, experiencing Earth and that cognitive dissonance of being both a part of it as home and then slightly outside of it and the profundity of knowing that everything that ever was is there and I’m here. The drama of seeing the planet was breathtaking.”
In June , Virgin Galactic announced Gerardi as a crew member on a second research spaceflight scheduled for as early as aboard the Company’s Delta Class spaceship.
Advocating for Women in STEM and Science Communication
Kellie’s work to promote citizen-science and inspire women in STEM has been featured across a broad range of media and has attracted hundreds of thousands of fans on social media. She is dedicated to making space exploration more accessible and attainable, especially for young girls.
To that end, she has penned a children’s book series centered on space exploration-with a female main character named Luna Muna. The idea first came to her when she and her husband, Steven (who works in aerospace and defense recruitment), were expecting their daughter, Delta V, now . “I was struggling to find books that centered on a little girl’s experience in space,” Gerardi says. “All the books I could find had little boys as the main character.” The first book, Luna Muna, follows a young girl who blasts off on an adventure into space. The character, modeled after her daughter, likes sparkles and pink in addition to space. “I wanted to show that space isn’t incompatible with all of the things so many little girls love,” says Gerardi. The second book in the series, Luna Muna: Space Café, was published last November, and there is a third book in the works.
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Gerardi takes comfort in knowing that she has opened at least one little girl’s mind to the possibilities of what they can do. “When my daughter is asked to draw a picture of an astronaut, she draws a girl,” says Gerardi. And it is safe to say that she is reaching many more girls all over the world. The petite, down-to-earth brunette is no doubt playing a pivotal role in changing the conversation about what astronauts look like today. For a woman who once watched space launches through her bedroom window in Jupiter, knowing that her research and journey into space could one day help her own mom here on Earth feels as though the world has come full circle. “My mom and dad have always been so supportive,” she says.
She is also the author of "Not Necessarily Rocket Science: A Beginner’s Guide to Life in the Space Age." The most valuable message from this book is that space is for everyone! And not just men, scientists, or engineers. But women, mothers, storytellers, artists, and dreamers. In it, Kellie offers endless advice to readers interested in launching their own space careers, including finding valuable mentors, getting involved at every chance, and volunteering for seemingly unspectacular roles. Kellie recollected taking the small, odds jobs, saying “During evening events I helped with the check-in and coat check, and when the front desk was short-staffed, I was happy to reprise my old role as receptionist.
Other Notable Activities and Affiliations
Gerardi serves on the Defense Council for the Truman National Security Project and is a Director of The Explorers Club, whose esteemed flag she carried during a crew rotation at the Mars Desert Research Station. She was also a candidate for the Mars One mission, an organization that planned to colonize Mars as a reality television show.
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