March 31, 2026 3 AM PT
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NASA’s powerful Launch Abort System — literally designed to outrun the debris from an exploding rocket and save the lives of astronauts should something go wrong during launch — is the result of years of work from scientists and engineers across the country, including by the agency’s pioneers of extreme flight out in the Mojave Desert.
Noah Haggerty is an environment and science reporter at the Los Angeles Times covering wildfire in the American West. A graduate of Northeastern University, he has a background in physics research, focusing on spacecraft propulsion and fusion energy. Haggerty joined The Times in 2024 as an AAAS Mass Media Fellow.
Albert Brave Tiger Lee is a Southern California native, son of Korean immigrants, a father and a staff videographer at the Los Angeles Times. His work spans various mediums of visual storytelling and has been recognized for various disciplines including a national Emmy Award for News and Documentary, an RFK Journalism Award, Pictures of the Year International honors, the National Press Photographers Assn.’s Best of Photojournalism Award and Columbia University’s Dart Award.
