Kristie Foster joins NASA’s civil service after years supporting Stennis rocket tests

Kristie Foster, a quality engineer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, became a NASA civil servant in June after years working there as a contractor. NASA announced the move on September 28 as part of its effort to strengthen technical expertise within its own workforce. Her work covers the facilities and procedures that support rocket propulsion tests, including checks on quality and safety.

Foster had supported NASA work as a contractor since 2008, according to the agency. Her new employment status brings that experience into the civil service, but NASA has not reported a measurable change in test performance or lunar mission outcomes resulting from her appointment. Its announcement identifies the month of her hire, without giving the precise appointment date.

Work behind the test stands

At Stennis, near Bay St. Louis, Foster manages quality assurance and engineering with a focus on the High Pressure Gas Facility and High Pressure Industrial Water Facility, NASA says. Stennis is the country’s largest rocket propulsion test site. The facilities provide essential support for testing: the gas operation produces, stores and distributes nitrogen, helium, hydrogen and air through a seven-mile pipeline across the center.

The water facility draws on a 66-million-gallon reservoir to pump water to test stands for cooling and sound suppression. Foster’s responsibilities extend beyond those two facilities. NASA says she also supports safety during the build-up at the Thad Cochran Test Stand, known as B-2, where Blue Origin is to conduct second-stage hot-fire tests of its New Glenn rocket.

“If you put safety and quality up front and incorporate it throughout the entire process, you are going to end up with a better product at the end,” Foster told NASA. Her statement describes her approach to the job, not a measured result from the change in her employment status.

A wider workforce effort

Foster’s appointment comes as NASA examines gaps in its civil-service expertise. In a July report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said NASA had lost more than 4,000 civil servants, about 22% of that workforce, by January 2026 following separation programs in 2025. The audit provides context for the agency’s hiring effort, though it does not assess Foster’s appointment individually.

GAO found that 25 of NASA’s 36 major projects reported effects from the staffing reductions. The effects differed by project; some said remaining civil servants had taken on duties previously handled by departing staff. GAO also reported that NASA’s February 2026 workforce directive called for identifying missing or outsourced expertise and planning targeted additions or conversions to civil-service roles.

The audit cautioned that NASA’s ability to hire enough people to address skill gaps remained uncertain amid a proposed reduction in its fiscal 2027 budget. That is a question about the broader workforce plan, not evidence of a problem with Foster’s appointment. NASA’s September announcement gives no total for planned contractor conversions at Stennis and does not say whether further hires there will follow.

A long route to Stennis

NASA says Foster first worked at Stennis through an internship with the Naval Oceanographic Office, a tenant at the center. While completing a degree at Mississippi State University, she later took a four-week holiday internship on a Stennis construction project. That led to a schedule combining work at the center with classes, and eventually to full-time contractor work supporting NASA from 2008.

The appointment also has a family connection for Foster. She told NASA that her father retired from the agency last year after about 20 years at Stennis. For now, the documented change is her move into the civil service and the continuation of the quality and safety responsibilities NASA describes. The agency has not published her salary, civil-service grade or details of the selection process.