A Huntsville technologist who spent nearly two decades helping advance NASA’s cutting-edge space technologies was part of a major Hollywood production — serving as an advisor on the blockbuster film, “Project Hail Mary.”
Niki Werkheiser, a longtime leader at NASA and former director of technology maturation, is credited among nine NASA advisors on the film, which stars Ryan Gosling and has grossed more than $500 million worldwide.
Werkheiser, who recently retired after nearly 20 years with NASA, was based for much of her career at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, where she helped lead efforts to develop technologies designed to support future space exploration — including systems aimed at enabling long-term human activity on the moon…