UCF Astronaut Hopeful Has His Sight Set on the Stars, is Well on His Way There
By Jen Cramer
Darrion McNulty is boldly pursuing his dream of becoming an astronaut, taking advantage of every opportunity to learn, gain experience and challenge himself while building a foundation at UCF that will launch him toward this goal.
A native of Texas, he started college at the University of Oklahoma, studying biomedical engineering on a pre-med track. But the dream of becoming an astronaut was compelling enough that he moved across the country, because he wanted to be part of advancing space exploration here at SpaceU.
Today he is working on a double-major in aerospace engineering and biology as a proud UCF Knight.
His family has been supportive of his dreams and his move to Florida, but they haven’t been able to help much financially. So as soon as he arrived in the Sunshine State, McNulty joined the Air National Guard of Florida to help pay for his education and receive military training.
“With the Guard, I’ve learned a lot about military discipline and integrity, plus how fighter jets work, which is pretty awesome,” says McNulty, who was an honors graduate in the top 10% of Airmen in training and now serves as a crew chief working on F-35 fighter jets.
A little over a year ago, he applied and was accepted into NASA Pathways, which provides a track for students to pursue careers with NASA. He completed his first internship last spring at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he was assigned to a human factors team in the astronaut training ground, combining his interests in engineering and medicine.
“I got to work with Navy test pilots and astronauts on scenarios related to the Orion capsule, which will ultimately take astronauts back to the moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program,” McNulty says.
While he was in Houston, he wanted to serve the local community, so he trained and became a volunteer firefighter. The station where he worked was adjacent to the space center, and several of the firefighters were also engineers and astronaut hopefuls. McNulty lived at the station during his internship, working at NASA during the day and responding to calls during the night shift. The firefighters became an important community and support system for McNulty in his time there.
Now back in Florida, he has continued with two more internships at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center — one last fall and now this spring — and has received his acceptance for a fall 2026 internship as well. He’s at the Cape three days a week this semester and takes classes on the other two days.
“I’m continuing to work on Artemis, and I previously supported Gateway — which will be the first space station to orbit the moon,” he says. “It’s surreal to witness history first-hand as the Artemis program advances, and we get closer to returning to the moon and launching the first crewed mission to Mars.”
Because he loved serving as a volunteer firefighter in Houston, he recently started his involvement with a local fire station in Central Florida.
“The idea of serving my community as a firefighter, while serving my nation through the Guard and in my internship at NASA, means a lot to me,” McNulty says.
As if all of that doesn’t keep him busy enough, he’s also an undergraduate research assistant in UCF’s Institute for Simulation & Training. He works on projects that are sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration, researching human performance and team cognition in high-fidelity simulation environments.
Meanwhile McNulty has become a leader on campus. He was just selected for the President’s Leadership Council and will be serving as an ambassador for UCF by supporting the work of the Office of the President.
He is also a Student Government senator representing the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Earlier this year, he served as part of a delegation that visited legislators in Tallahassee to advocate for Florida’s future in engineering, education and service.
“I really believe that engineering goes far beyond education. It’s economic development, national security and generational mobility,” he says.
To continually challenge himself, McNulty has joined a triathlon club and is now training to compete as an IRONMAN athlete later this year.
When he graduates in 2028, he plans to stay in Florida and work toward becoming an astronaut. There are many paths he could take to get there, from fighter pilot training with the Guard, to enrolling in a master’s program in engineering, pursuing medical school or joining UCF’s aerospace medicine program. Knowing McNulty, he may just do it all.
“I love UCF, and I’m so grateful for every opportunity. The programs I’m in are incredibly strong, there are resources and support at my fingertips, and there are endless ways to get involved,” he says.
“Most of all, being here has shown me how to translate my interests and passions into a career where I can contribute, serve and challenge myself every day. And because of UCF’s connection to the space industry, there are so many opportunities to do that.”
McNulty talked about his UCF journey as a featured speaker at UCF’s Go For Launch campaign liftoff, demonstrating how a UCF education can launch the up-and-coming generation of explorers who have their sights set on the stars.
His story shows why Go For Launch is so important: Investments in UCF help students ignite meaningful careers, discover new frontiers and create a bold tomorrow.
