The director of chief training Teresa Sindelar touches the future of human space flight

Teresa Sindelar has always known that she wanted to be part of the human space flight, but she did not know how to make this dream a reality until a chance meeting with the former astronaut of NASA Tom Stafford at the age of 11.

The pair met in a local jewelry near the Maison du Nebraska de Sindelar, where General Stafford signed autographs. In addition to his photo, General Stafford gave Sindelar a precious advice – she should consult the Kansas Cosmosphere, a museum of space in Hutchinson, Kansas. “I continued to attend each camp that the cosmosphere offered as a student, interned in college and worked there full time while obtaining my graduate diploma,” said Sindelar.

She discovered a passion for teaching and mentoring young students through her work in the Museum’s education department and a passage as a secondary school teacher. When she started looking for opportunities for NASA, she looked for a position that melted instruction with technical work. “I like to pour others and watch them grow,” she said.

Today, Sindelar is director of chief training (CTO) within the Directorate of Flight Operations at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. In addition to his CTOS colleagues, Sindelar oversees the correct and complete training of NASA astronauts, crew members representing international partners and all flight controllers. “I gathered the pieces,” she said. “It’s my job to make sure that instructors, planners, external partners, installation managers and others are all synchronized.” She added that CTOs have a unique position because they see the overview of a training flow and include long -term training goals and objectives.

“I can do a lot of interesting things and go to many nice places,” she said, noting that Johnson’s training facilities and other NASA centers, as well as facilities managed by international partners, are first-rate. Although she likes to look at astronauts solving problems and learning new systems, she has a particular condition for the training of flight controls and mentoring of young professionals. “What fulfills my cup the most is to see a brand new employee of the university flower in a confident flight controller, to do his job well and improve our missions,” she said. “I like to know that I had something to do with that.”

Sindelar has been part of the Johnson team since 2010 and worked as an educator in what was then called the Center Education Office and as a crew training instructor at the Directorate of Space Medicine Operations before becoming CTO. In March 2025, Sindelar received a prize for the laureate of the space awareness program for its exceptional leadership program in the mission program of private astronauts (PAM), which is an important element of the NASA strategy to allow a robust and competitive commercial economy in low terrestrial orbit. As the main CTO for the third PAM, Axiom Mission 3, Sindelar managed training while identifying critical ineffectiveness, improving the security and performance of the mission. She led a key retirement from stakeholders to rationalize operations, reorganized training resources for an improvement in accessibility and implemented efficiency improvements that have optimized the support of the mission. Sindelar’s work was recognized during a prize ceremony at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and it was able to attend the launch of the NASA SpaceX Crew-10 mission as a special guest.

During her 15 years with the agency, she learned the importance of giving an example. “My team needs to see that I meet the bar I put,” she said. “The leader is to motivate your people so that they are engaged, not just inquests.”

Keeping a motivated team and on the right track is particularly important for training and security. “We only have months to train astronauts to do the most dangerous activities that humans have done, or to train flight controllers who literally have the mission and the life of astronauts in their hands,” said Sindelar, adding that they cannot afford to have a team not focused or indifferent.

Sindelar observed that Johnson’s training team is perfectly aware of their responsibilities. “We live and work in the same communities as crew members,” she said. “We see them in school functions, at the grocery store, in the park. We know that their families are counting on us to bring their loved ones back to home safely. ”

She also learned that her voice counts. “When I was a young professional, I never felt that I could have an influence, but the only person holding me was me,” she said. “I had to learn to trust my instinct. It was definitely outside my comfort zone. ” She attributes to her mentors to help her strengthen confidence and know when and how to speak. “I have had many giants of the community flight mold and shape myself in my career, from my cosmosphered advisers to the flight directors and astronauts,” she said. “It is my privilege to learn from them, and I am grateful to each of them.”

Apart from work, Sindelar uses his voice in a different way – as part of his church choir. She also plays the piano, declaring that she is also passionate about music and volunteer her concerns human space flights. She is also a member of the Friendswood volunteer fire service that is part of her rehabilitation team and as a healing of the department

While NASA is preparing to return humans to the Moon and go to Mars, Sindelar hopes that it has taught the next generation of explorers enough so that they can show the world the wonders of the universe. “This next generation will see and do things that my generation has never thought,” she said, adding that it is time for them to start directing. “Use your voice. Take care of each other along the way. Hand hand and help the next online. “

Sindelar keeps a reminder of this important message on his desk: the generation of General Stafford signed all these years ago.