VIP Guests - Anna Malachias

Anna Malachias is a Chiotisa who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 1, 1993. Her mother Anthippi Malachias (née Perdikidou) was born in Chora, Chios and her father Parashos Malachias was born in Karies, Chios. Her parents emigrated to New Orleans in the late 70’s. She has spent almost every summer of her life visiting Chios and staying at her parents’ house in Vrontados, Chios. She is fluent in Greek and considers Chios, Greece and the United States her homes, equally.

Anna graduated from Louisiana State University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Aerospace Engineering.   At Lockheed Martin, she is responsible for the assembly of complex flight hardware including primary structure, life support systems, avionics, thermal protection systems, and propulsion systems. Anna works right next to the Orion Spacecraft supervising and providing technical guidance to the technicians as they assemble the flight hardware. She is constantly troubleshooting to correct any production issues, as well as, developing tooling to ensure streamlined engineering. The hardware Anna works on daily will be the only element protecting the Artemis Astronauts during their month-long journey to the moon. Anna has received awards from the NASA Orion Program Manager’s office, Lockheed Martin Extraordinary Engineering and Technology Award, and a Space Flight Awareness award from NASA, which is an award from NASA to recognize exemplary work towards the human space program. Anna’s most fulfilling accomplishment was to work on the Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft from start to finish, which launched November 15, 2022.