Reach for the stars
Clark County native works at NASA
WINCHESTER
Katherine DeWitt Baker (now Estes) relished her life growing up in the Clark County community of Trapp. Today, she works for NASA, living in Huntsville, Alabama, with husband, Anthony, and 4-year-old daughter, Lillian June. She admits, though, that she is “right back home to being the girl from Trapp” whenever visiting.
Known as Kate to friends, she serves as the program planning and control manager of the Space Launch System Engines Element. Her NASA career fulfills a lifetime dream to be involved in space exploration. Katherine began her career primarily in the technical area, but now focuses on programmatic elements, tying risk budget scheduling to the technical aspects of the job.
Katherine emphasizes that her determination was nurtured in Clark County Public Schools. Attending Trapp Elementary, she says, “was like being around your best friends and family at the same time.” Former Trapp teacher Ida Parsons praises Katherine as possessing a “sweet spirit … fiercely passionate, intelligent and extremely hard-working. She is ambitious and sets her goals high, so I am not surprised she is doing the great things she is today.”
Katherine Estes helped facilitate the launch of Artemis 1 at Kennedy Space Center in 2022. Photo: NASA
An advanced magnet program followed at Conkwright Middle School with graduation from George Rogers Clark High School in 2003. She enrolled at the University of Kentucky and chose mechanical engineering as her major—a field to give her a broader foundation for space-related goals. Katherine’s major decision surprised her father, Larry Baker, a mechanical engineer himself and Clark Energy consumer-member, though Katherine calls her interests a blend of both parents. Sandy Baker, her mother, is a retired teacher; Katherine shares her passion.
At UK, the intense training advanced her goals. Katherine was on the Big Blue Senior Design Team and excelled. She collaborated on a Mars exploration project and also served as a business manager working with collegiate partners aligning projects and budgets.
Degree in hand, she moved to Huntsville in 2008 for the NASA position, serving as a liquid propulsion systems engineer with the Marshall Space Flight Center. She worked with the Space Shuttle program until its retirement, then helped facilitate the 2022 launch of Artemis 1 as part of NASA’s moon exploration.
While holding her daughter and watching the monumental Artemis launching, Katherine said, “We do this for you and your generation.”
STEVE FLAIRTY is an author, columnist, speaker and former public school teacher.
