Tracy Drain

Tracy Drain was born in Louisville, Kentucky.^[1] She was always curious about space and the formation of our solar system, and decided to study mechanical engineering in 11th Grade while at Waggener High School.^[2] Drain was a big fan of Star Trek, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica.^[3] Throughout high school she competed in mathematics competitions and insisted on watching space shuttle launches on television.^[4] Drain received a bachelor's degree Mechanical Engineering from University of Kentucky in 1998 and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000.^[5] She was the first person in her immediate family to receive a college degree.^[6] Whilst studying at university, she spent two summers as an intern for NASA Langley.^[7][2] She interviewed for several aerospace companies before settling on JPL, which she chose because she felt "that their mission was my mission: the robotic exploration of space".^[2]

Drain joined JPL immediately after graduating in 2000, working on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.^[7] After the launch in 2005, Drain was promoted to lead systems engineer.^[7] Drain joined the Kepler project in 2007 as the Missions Readiness Lead, hunting for Earth-like planets, staying until Kepler checked-out in 2009.^[7] In 2009 she joined Juno, which is studying the gravity and magnetic fields of Jupiter.^[1] She is Technical Group Supervisor for the Flight Systems Engineering group.^[7] She has worked for NASA for more than 17 years.^[6] Drain worked on the Psyche mission, studying the largest known metal asteroid in our solar system, launching in 2022.^[3][8] Drain is currently the lead flight system systems engineer for NASA's Europa Clipper mission, set to launch in 2024 to the Jupiter system to study one of Jupiter's moons.^[9]

Tracy Drain is involved with a range of activities to communicate her enthusiasm for engineering with the public.^[10] She is an Exchange Consultant for the National Academy of Sciences, a program that connects the entertainment industry with scientists and engineers to create accurate science in both film and TV.^[11][3] Drain was a Jury Member for the 2017 Sundance Festival.^[12] She has spoken about women in film and engineering alongside Diane Kruger at the Sloan Film Summit.^[13] She takes every opportunity to encourage girls and young people into STEM careers.^[14][15][16] Drain was involved with the promotion of the 20th Century Fox movie "Hidden Figures", in a series of films entitled "Hidden Figures, Modern Figures", and took part in several panel discussions.^[17][18][19] In 2017 Drain gave a TEDx talk at the ArtCentre College of Design, "Beauty of the Fall".^[20][21]

2007 - NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for exceptional performance in the development of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission's transition to Science Phase Activities^[22]

2009 - NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for exceptional achievement in guiding and managing the Kepler Launch, Commissioning and Science Operations readiness effort^[23]

2015 - JPL Bruce Murray Award for exceptional support for the education of minority and female STEM students through community programs, distance learning and public events^[24]

2015 - Women in Engineering ProActive Network Women in Engineering Champion Award^[25]

Tracy Drain is married to fellow JPL engineer, Ted Drain.^[26]