Sarah Gillis served as a mission specialist on Polaris Dawn, the inaugural mission of the Polaris Program, and a groundbreaking collaboration between SpaceX and private astronaut Jared Isaacman. Designed to push the limits of space exploration, the mission focused on conducting advanced scientific research, testing cutting-edge space technologies, and setting new milestones in human spaceflight.

A Lead Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX, Gillis is responsible for overseeing the company’s astronaut training program. This includes the development of mission-specific curriculum and training execution for both NASA and commercial astronauts who fly aboard the Dragon spacecraft. She prepared NASA astronauts for the first Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions, and directly trained the Inspiration4 astronauts, the first all-civilian crew to go to orbit. Gillis is an experienced mission control operator, who has supported real-time operations for Dragon’s cargo resupply missions to and from the International Space Station as a Navigation Officer, and as a crew communicator for Dragon’s human spaceflight missions.

Raised from a young age to be a classical violinist, Gillis changed directions when a beloved high-school mentor, former NASA astronaut Joe Tanner, encouraged her to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering. While studying engineering and dance at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Gillis started an internship at SpaceX, working on human-in-the-loop testing of the Dragon spacecraft interior before moving into the astronaut training program full-time.

Astronauts, Research & Exploration, Space, Aerospace Engineering,