NASA Stories at the Ion

The Ion and NASA are teaming up for NASA Stories at the Ion, a family‑friendly morning session that brings the community face‑to‑face with the experts shaping humanity’s next giant leap in space. Over breakfast and networking, attendees will hear from Shatel Bhakta, Moon Base Principal Systems Engineer, as he explores what it will take for NASA to establish an enduring human presence at the lunar South Pole.

Bhakta will share the engineering, infrastructure, and operational challenges of building a Moon base in one of the most extreme environments in our solar system, from power and communications to mobility, habitation, and logistics. He will also talk about his career journey at NASA, why human space exploration matters for life on Earth, and what NASA needs from the next generation of aerospace engineers, technologists, and founders.