NASA's Ames Research Center has officially declared July 2026 the month of Sungshin Choi, Yi-Chun Chen, Emma Yates, and Eduardo Bendek - a quartet of scientists so dedicated they make the rest of us feel like we've been binge-watching Netflix instead of advancing humanity's knowledge of the cosmos.

Sungshin Choi, a project scientist with Amentum in the Space Biosciences Division, is being celebrated for her tireless support of space biology flight investigations past, present, and future - including CBIOMES, ODYSSEY, and Space Algae II. Because apparently, growing algae in space is a thing, and someone has to make sure it doesn't get space-sick.

Yi-Chun Chen, also a project scientist with Amentum in the same division, earned her star for exemplary support of multiple space biology activities, including the MeF1, GEARS, and ELISA MABL flight investigations. That last one stands for Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - Microgravity Associated Bone Loss, which is a mouthful even before you factor in zero gravity.

Emma Yates, a research scientist with the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in the Earth Science Division, has been instrumental in advancing NASA's Ozone Where We Live (OWWL) project. She led community engagement, citizen-science partnerships, and field deployments across California, building community-based air quality monitoring networks. Because if you're going to study the air we breathe, you might as well get the locals involved.

Eduardo Bendek, an optical scientist with the SETI Institute in the Astrophysics Branch, developed several options for the Ames Coronagraph Testbed's (ACT) first light experiments. He reviewed them with stakeholders and delivered a comprehensive presentation on how to proceed. The ACT is a near-infrared testbed for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel but is actually just NASA trying to find planets where we might not immediately die.