A spreadsheet that helps send rockets to Mars

Michelle Hoehn was in seventh grade when she walked into her dad's office at NASA Stennis Space Center in Louisiana. She doesn't remember the specific details—the hallways, the desks, the technical diagrams on the walls. What she remembers is the feeling: a sudden, absolute certainty that she wanted to be part of something that mattered.

Twenty-one years later, she still works at that same center. She's a cost accountant now, which means her days involve spreadsheets, financial records, and the unglamorous work of making sure every number adds up. It's not the kind of job that makes headlines. But it's the kind of job that keeps NASA's Artemis program—the one that will land humans on the Moon and eventually Mars—moving forward.

The numbers behind the mission

Hoehn grew up with finance in her blood. She filed paperwork at her grandfather's store as a kid, helped her mom during tax season. It was practical, concrete work. When she started at Southeastern Louisiana University, she wasn't sure what came next. Then she had her first child, and something clicked. She needed work that was steady and meaningful. Finance made sense.

What she didn't expect was how meaningful it would become.

Today, working in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at NASA Stennis, Hoehn tracks costs across massive, complex projects—some worth millions of dollars. She ensures that every expenditure is recorded accurately, that every dollar is accounted for. It sounds dry until you understand what it enables: informed decisions about propulsion testing, technology development, the actual engineering that gets rockets built and tested.

The work demands precision. Financial regulations shift. Systems evolve. Projects grow more complex. Hoehn stays sharp by staying curious—she embraces continuous learning, looks for ways to strengthen her role. After 15 years as a NASA employee, she's learned that the details matter because they ripple outward.

"It is incredible to realize that a spreadsheet I work on today could be tied to a rocket engine test of the future," Hoehn said. That's not metaphorical. The data she manages guides decisions that shape hardware, timelines, and the trajectory of human space exploration.

She's not alone in feeling that connection. Stennis is built on a collaborative, mission-driven culture where engineers, accountants, and support staff all understand they're part of the same larger effort. The pride isn't performative. It's the quiet satisfaction of knowing your work—whatever form it takes—contributes to something extraordinary.

From a seventh grader walking into her dad's office to a cost accountant ensuring financial integrity across lunar missions, Hoehn's path wasn't obvious. But it was always pointed toward the same thing: being part of something bigger than herself. That sense of wonder she felt as a kid didn't fade. It just found a different expression—one with spreadsheets and rigor and the knowledge that precision today makes discovery tomorrow possible.