Human Performance Accelerator Lab
SPACE CENTER HOUSTON’S Leadership Training and Development Program
NASA is recognized globally for the ability to innovate and lead under pressure, especially in the unforgiving environments of outer space. Our Human Performance Accelerator Lab (HPAL) strategically combines NASA leadership insights with cutting-edge and inspirational strategy, human resources, and business experts. Leverage these leadership learnings and experiences to more effectively lead your teams and strengthen your personal leadership toolkit.
Only Space Center Houston provides public access to NASA Johnson Space Center and now we’re providing virtual, off-site and in-person learning experiences rooted in NASA’s 60+ years of human performance research, training, and development.
The program will help you:

Unlock and ignite human potential and performance by practicing leadership techniques developed, tested, and trained by the NASA Human Research Program.

Apply collaboration and problem-solving practices in real time through authentic and immersive space exploration missions and experiences completed by NASA astronauts.

Accelerate individual and team performance by engaging with business experts and best-selling authors as well as NASA’s best and brightest astronauts, scientists, and engineers.
Our leadership curriculum focuses on three tenets – become an explorer, take the broader view, and embrace change. Explore topics such as self and team care, compassion, and culture management in order to inspire, innovate, and lead your teams more effectively.
This transformative leadership program benefits large and small businesses, non-profits, educational, and government organizations. With a program purchase, you support Space Center Houston, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that opens the gateway to space exploration and leadership for people from all walks of life.
Launch your leadership journey, and register today for one of our programs!
FOR INDIVIDUALS & TEAMS

Become an explorer

Take a broader view

Embrace change

HPAL Programs
Accelerate Space Program
CONGRAULATIONS TO OUR INAUGURAL COHORT OF ACCELERATE SPACE!
Imagine yourself building the next space capsule, coding a fully autonomous rocket, designing technology to harvest the Moon’s polar ice caps, engineering a colony on the Moon, or training astronauts to go to Mars.
If you are looking for a career change, have been affected by pandemic constraints, or have recently graduated from college or trade school, we want to help you achieve for dreams. Space Center Houston invites you to be part of this growing industry through our Accelerate Space Program.
Hosted by Space Center Houston’s Human Performance Accelerator Lab and powered by Microsoft, the Accelerate Space Program is a workforce development program aimed at upskilling workers to prepare them to seek and join the Houston region aerospace industry.
The Houston region is home to over 500 companies and institutions involved in aircraft or space vehicle manufacturing, research and technology or other air transportation support activities. You will gain the skills and knowledge necessary to increase your competitive advantage and benefit our communities, businesses, and economy.
Engage in virtual training sessions, onsite workshops, mock interviews, and a job fair with aerospace companies. The sessions will cover a variety of space and business topics including project management, digital skills, embracing uncertainty and taking calculated risks, and leadership/followership.
Upon completion of the program, you will have access to aerospace companies through an onsite job fair.
LOOK FOR THE NEW COHORT APPLICATION IN FALL OF 2022
Cohort Members will receive
- Applicable aerospace and industry skills
- Opportunity to network with aerospace experts
- Tours of Space Center Houston and NASA Johnson Space Center
Program requirements
- Access to video conference equipment and internet connection (computer and webcam for Microsoft Teams meetings)
- Transportation to Space Center Houston for on-site sessions
- Must attend 100 percent of live events (virtual and onsite at Space Center Houston)
- Passion to grow & explore new opportunities
Launching the Future: Leveraging Strategic Foresight to Define “What’s Next”
Individuals and small teams are invited to join space exploration and business experts from the Human Performance Accelerator Lab on Thursday, September 29- Friday, September 30, 2022 for an unforgettable leadership experience, including NASA tours, applied-learning workshops, networking opportunities, and water escape training.
Attendees will use NASA Futuring Techniques such as STRATEGIC FORESIGHT to create a RoadMap for their organization’s way-forward into the future. Get insights about NASA/Commercial Partners’ efforts to return to the Moon and apply space challenges to your organization. Don’t miss this opportunity to maximize your team performance by learning from NASA experts and from individuals across industries!
$899.95 per person includes: Two days of activities and tours, lunch each day, networking reception, and transportation to offsite experiences
For questions, contact Ann at ahernandez@spacecenter.org.
REGISTER TODAY
DAY ONE Thursday, September 29 starts at 9:00 a.m. and includes:
- NASA Johnson Space Center Tour
- Strategic Foresight Workshops and special guests
- Networking Lunch
- Space Center Houston Tour
- Happy Hour
- Optional dinner with space experts
DAY TWO Friday, September 30 starts at 9:00 a.m. and includes:
- Light Breakfast
- NASA Johnson Space Center Tour
- Helicopter Underwater Escape Training
- Lunch
- Closing Session
Compassionate Leadership: Leading with Heart
Date: Oct. 8 | 2 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. CT
Price:
When we have compassion for others, it creates a more inclusive workplace and makes us less biased towards coworkers. Stanford School of Business lecturer and author Leah Weiss joins former NASA astronaut Cady Coleman to lead you through how to be mindful in your interactions with your teams.
This program will:
- Define compassionate leadership and its impact: Provide an understanding of “compassion” from a neuroscientific, health, and organizational psychology perspective, and how it impacts the quality of collaboration, innovation, and the capacity to receive and offer effective feedback.
- Put compassionate leadership into context: Explain how compassion supports resilience and high-impact performance over the long term, and why compassion is crucial to understanding many of the issues at play in the workplace. Cady Coleman will share real-world experiences from space and on the ground at NASA to show how truly diverse and inclusive collaboration, enabled by compassionate leadership, yields impressive results.
- Put compassionate leadership into practice: Provide simple compassion tools we, as leaders working at all levels of an organization, can pragmatically implement to increase professional fulfillment and resilience.
Dr. Leah Weiss
Dr. Cady Coleman
Bouncing Back: Building Team Resilience
Date: Coming in September
Price: $99 $79
Language: Spanish
Establishing and harnessing collective team strength and communicating and implementing a shared vision could not be more important during these particularly challenging times. Join NASA astronaut Dan Olivas and Space Center Houston CEO William Harris, as they share stories and insights into maximizing individual and team performance. Gain practical and proven leadership tools and tactics to create change in your organization and set a path for future success.
Establecer y aprovechar la fuerza del equipo colectivo y comunicar e implementar una visión compartida no podría ser más importante durante estos tiempos particularmente desafiantes. Acompaña al astronauta de la NASA Dan Olivas y al director ejecutivo del Centro Espacial de Houston, William Harris, mientras comparten historias y conocimientos para maximizar el rendimiento individual y en equipo. Obtén prácticas y útiles herramientas de liderazgo y tácticas para generar cambios en tu organización y establecer un camino para el éxito venidero.
William T. Harris
Dr. John Olivas
Resilient Leadership: Finding a Way Forward
Date: To be announced
Price: $99
Prepare yourself and your teams for a more resilient future. Learn from failures and maximize individual and team performance as you move forward from difficult circumstances. Leading the discussion and sharing stories of resiliency from the fatal Space Shuttle Challenger disaster to working in isolation are space experts Leroy Chiao, astronaut and former International Space Station commander, and Lon Miller, recipient of two NASA performance medals.
Dr. Leroy Chiao
Lon Miller
Innovative Leadership: Leading Through Play
Date: To be announced
Price: $99
Dynamic and interactive play of ideas can create powerful new products and processes. Join Dan Klein, Stanford School of Business lecturer and performer, and Nicole Stott, astronaut and artist, to fine tune your skills in order to grasp innovative ideas and implement them.
Dan Klein
Nicole Stott
Impactful Leadership: Cultural Competency in Teams
Date: To be announced
Price: $99
Intention is not enough. Developing the ability to recognize and act on differences allows leaders to fluently connect with each team member and adjust for needs as they come up. William Harris, Space Center Houston CEO and diversity and inclusion advocate, joins astronaut Livingston Holder, Jr. to share stories of intentional listening, meaningful adaptations, and impactful change.
William T. Harris
Livingston Holder Jr.