Inspirational Women in STEM: Amentum Mechanical Engineer Breanne Rohloff On Why She Is Excited To Support The First Crewed Mission Back to The Moon Since 1972
Artemis II is very exciting. It’s the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, and the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft.
It is the second flight of the Space Launch System, NASA’s most powerful rocket, and will be the first crewed flight under the Artemis program. This mission will help confirm systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration and will take four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.
We at Kennedy Space Center and Amentum are working to deliver solutions to help NASA return to the moon and establish a long-term, sustainable human presence, scientific research, and commercial development.
We had the pleasure of talking with Breanne Rohloff. Breanne is a mechanical engineer in the Space Operations Division at Amentum, where she supports work connected to NASA’s Artemis program at Kennedy Space Center. She studied aerospace engineering after developing an early interest in space while watching Space Shuttle launches as a child, and later joined the team that works on NASA’s crawler-transporter, the massive tracked vehicle that carries rockets from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad. Rohloff has helped support launch operations and broader preparations for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to travel to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. In interviews, she has described the unusual pace of the crawler, noting that during moves across the wildlife reserve surrounding the launch complex, “a turtle has been traveling alongside the crawler-transporter,” and that the animal often “wins the race” against the vehicle, which moves at about one mile per hour when fully loaded. Rohloff has also spoken about the importance of expanding opportunities for women in technical fields and addressing practical barriers, including safety equipment that is often designed around male body types rather than the needs of a broader workforce.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I’ve been interested in space since childhood, and I grew up watching Space Shuttle launches. I went to school for aerospace engineering and signed up for an internship to learn everything I could about the space program. While there, I was able to meet the team who works on NASA’s crawler-transporter.
The crawler-transporter is a massive, tracked vehicle that carries rockets and spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad. It’s the heaviest self-powered land vehicle in the world and plays a critical role in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon and eventually go to Mars. When I graduated, I was able to join the team as a full-time engineer.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
People usually underestimate how slowly the crawler moves. The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is on a wildlife reserve. Usually, the vibrations created by the crawler-transporter prompt nearby animals to move to a new location, but sometimes the animals can be confused or a bit stubborn. There have been a few instances where a turtle has been traveling alongside the crawler-transporter during a move. Amazingly, the turtle tends to win the race with the crawler-transporter, which can only go up to about 1 mile per hour when fully loaded!
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Amentum stands out because of the great people I work with. We lead end-to-end advanced engineering for NASA’s Artemis II mission. It takes an incredible amount of people working together to prepare a launch campaign. The teams working on the vehicle, the teams working on the ground systems, the teams working logistics, the teams working in the firing room, and more are all working together to get the vehicle to the pad and lifting off to the moon.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Artemis II is very exciting. It’s the first crewed mission to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972, and the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft.
It is the second flight of the Space Launch System, NASA’s most powerful rocket, and will be the first crewed flight under the Artemis program. This mission will help confirm systems and hardware needed for early human lunar exploration and will take four astronauts on a journey around the Moon.
We at Kennedy Space Center and Amentum are working to deliver solutions to help NASA return to the moon and establish a long-term, sustainable human presence, scientific research, and commercial development.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
We can always use more women in STEM — and more people in general are needed to sustain growth in the STEM fields. Women bring a different perspective to problem-solving and development, and diverse thinking helps to drive more effective and efficient solutions.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM or Tech that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
From an operations and field-work perspective, a lot of personal protective equipment is designed for and marketed toward men and may not fit a woman in the same way, even if it is available in smaller sizes. I think this is an issue that manufacturers need to address, specifically incorporating women’s body types into the design process for the equipment. It is important to make sure that the necessary safety equipment is effective for various body types and sizes to keep all personnel safe while in the field.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM or Tech. Can you explain what you mean?
A big myth is that you need to make yourself “one of the guys” to fit in and be effective. I think it is important to be professional at work but stay true to yourself. People can pick up when you aren’t being genuine and it often makes it more difficult to form trust in the workplace.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1 . Communicate clearly and often — It’s important to communicate any wins and any concerns the team may have. Communicate the wins to celebrate the team’s hard work and communicate any concerns to request assistance and remove roadblocks from the team’s path.
2 . Be a servant leader — Work as a leader to remove the obstacles that prevent the team from performing their work. Your first goal as a leader should be to make the team’s path to completing the mission as smooth as possible.
3 . Leading isn’t about being popular — Not everyone is going to like you, and sometimes you’ll need to make decisions that go against friendships. It’s important to build relationships and foster a level of respect with your peers that allows you to make the best decisions possible with full support. But sometimes you’re going to be the villain to somebody.
4 . Learn Continuously — Be a sponge. There will always be things you can learn from people and experiences that make you a better leader, and a better person. Thinking you “know it all” limits you in ways you may not even know about yet.
5 . Delegate to your team — Your team has invaluable skills and experience that will get the job done. Delegating allows you to focus on the most important things for you and allows those you’re working with to learn and grow. Delegation isn’t a weakness. It makes everyone around you smarter and more capable.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am grateful to my husband for all his support. He’s been a sounding board for ideas, a cheerleader for a confidence boost, a steady rock in his belief in my goals.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I’ve directly supported two launches as part of a much larger ecosystem of experts dedicated to advancing space exploration, scientific discovery, space habitation, national security, weather and intelligence, and communications.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would say a push to make equipment more fitted to a woman’s experience starting with personal protective equipment. Women’s bodies are not just smaller than men’s bodies; getting equipment that is made to comfortably fit a woman’s body will remove one more obstacle for women’s participation in STEM and in trades.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
One quote that I love and remember often is to never be the smartest person in the room. People have incredible knowledge and perspectives on all manner of subjects, and it is a blessing to learn and grow from others. By allowing yourself not to be the smartest person in the room it opens you up to learn from others who may have more experience and knowledge than you. Being humble in a room full of very smart and technical people opens so many doors for invaluable connections.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Inspirational Women in STEM: Amentum Mechanical Engineer Breanne Rohloff On Why She Is Excited To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.