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NASA Videographer Wins Top Award for Capturing Human Side of Science


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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)

NASA/Jacob Shaw

Capturing the high-stakes work behind NASA’s Airborne Science Program takes more than just technical skill – it takes vision. At NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, videographer Jacob Shaw brings that vision to life, documenting missions with a style and storytelling approach all his own.

“Armstrong is full of cutting-edge flight research and remarkable people,” Shaw said. “Being able to shape how those stories are told, in my own style, is incredibly rewarding.”

Armstrong is full of cutting-edge flight research and remarkable people. Being able to shape how those stories are told, in my own style, is incredibly rewarding.

jacob Shaw

jacob Shaw

NASA Videographer

Shaw recently earned first place in NASA’s 2024 Videographer of the Year Awards, documentation category, for his film, “Reflections,” which chronicles the 2024 Airborne Science mission PACE-PAX – short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment. The campaign used NASA Armstrong’s ER-2 high-altitude aircraft to collect atmospheric and ocean data in support of the PACE satellite, launched in February 2024.

“These missions are live, high-stakes operations – even if the crew makes it look effortless,” Shaw said. “I’m fascinated not just with capturing these moments, but with shaping them into meaningful stories through editing.”

A man with red hair and a beard, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a black short sleeved shirt, gestures as if in conversation. He is seated on the right side of a cafeteria booth, pretending to talk to his camera, which sits across from him on the table. A hot dog in a bun, two bags of chips, and scattered chips are on the table between them. The photo is playfully staged to look like a lunch meeting between the man and his camera.
NASA videographer Jacob Shaw shares a moment with his constant companion during a lunch break in the cafeteria at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, on May 21, 2025. Shaw recently earned first place in NASA’s 2024 Videographer of the Year Awards – documentation category – for his film, “Reflections,” which chronicles the 2024 Airborne Science mission PACE-PAX – short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment.
NASA/Genaro Vavuris

Shaw’s passion for video began early, inspired by watching his father film family memories with a VHS camcorder in the early 1990s. He said seeing those moments captured made him realize the power of documenting reality and inspired him to pursue videography as a professional and personal passion.

“What I love most about creating videos for NASA at Armstrong Flight Research Center is the creative freedom I’m given to craft stories,” Shaw said. “I’m trusted to take a concept and run with it.”

Since joining the video team in 2021, Shaw has documented dozens of missions, helping to share the center’s groundbreaking work with the world.

“We’re a small crew that wears many hats, always stepping up to get the job done,” Shaw said. “I am thankful for their encouragement to submit my work [for this award], and proud to bring home the gold for Armstrong!”

A bearded man wearing a brown and black baseball cap and a black long-sleeved shirt holds a camera in front of him, with one hand supporting the long white-and-black lens and the other on the camera body. He is preparing to film a scene outside the right side of the frame.
NASA videographer Jacob Shaw captures footage of the ER-2 aircraft inside a hangar at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in December 2024. Shaw recently earned first place in NASA’s 2024 Videographer of the Year Awards – documentation category – for his film, “Reflections,” which chronicles the 2024 Airborne Science mission PACE-PAX – short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment.
NASA/Genaro Vavuris
Two men stand behind camera equipment, preparing to film a scene outside the left side of the frame. One, in a green short-sleeved shirt and jeans with sunglasses on his head, is in the foreground; the other stands slightly behind and to the right, wearing a backward brown-and-black baseball cap, a black hoodie, and khaki pants. An orange cord is plugged into the equipment on a tripod and spirals along the ground, exiting the frame on the right. Behind them, one the right side of the frame, a woman in a gray long-sleeved shirt and black pants adjusts a camera on a tripod. The team is on a dirt path bordered by beach plants, with sand, ocean, the horizon, and blue sky in the distance.
NASA videographer Jacob Shaw and the video team from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, prepare to film the launch of NASA’s SPHEREx mission at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission, short for Specto-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer, launched on March 11, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, continuing NASA’s exploration of the cosmos – and its commitment to visual storytelling.
NASA/Jim Ross

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May 23, 2025
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