How Do You Crash a Space Station? A NASA Engineer Explains

Join us for an engaging evening where makers, trailblazers, practitioners, and obsessive deep‑dive thinkers share their most captivating stories at your local bar in Houston!

Hosted by Curiosity Brews.

🗓️ Date: March 18, 2026

🕡 Talk at 7:00 PM (Doors Open at 6:00 PM)

📍 Location: Garden Oaks neighborhood. Exact address given in confirmation email

📚 Talk: "So… How Do You Crash a Space Station? A NASA rocket engineer walks into a bar and explains everything."

🎤 Speaker: DJ Kroeger is the Chief Engineer for the ISS Deorbit Vehicle at NASA, with over 25 years of experience in spacecraft and aircraft engineering.

*NOTE: This event/venue is child-friendly. You can bring your children aged 12 and over.

So… How Do You Crash a Space Station? A NASA rocket engineer walks into a bar and explains everything

The International Space Station has been orbiting Earth for over 25 years. Soon, it's coming down... on purpose. NASA's plan? Build a vehicle powerful enough to safely deorbit something the size of a football field traveling at 17,500 mph, and make sure it hits exactly the right spot in the ocean.

Join DJ Kroeger, USDV Chief Engineer, NASA, as he traces the greatest engineering failures in space history: from Apollo 13 to Challenger to disasters you've never heard of... and reveals the single thread connecting them all: engineers who found the right answers but asked the wrong questions.

This isn't a lecture. It's a story about how the smartest people in the room still get it catastrophically wrong, and what that means for the most complex deorbit mission ever attempted.

DJ Kroeger is the Chief Engineer for the ISS Deorbit Vehicle at NASA, with over 25 years of experience in spacecraft and aircraft engineering. He is currently leading one of the most technically ambitious missions in NASA's recent history: safely bringing down the International Space Station.

Grab a drink, meet curious minds, and explore interesting ideas at Curiosity Brews!

AGENDA

6:00 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key

7:00 PM – Talk begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up

*** A CAUSE CLOSE TO MY HEART ***

Curiosity Brews was launched by our very first speaker, Bridgette Mongeon — sculptor and founder of Houston Women's Hiking Group, a community of 20,000+ hikers. Hiking has personally been a lifeline for me, and Bridgette is now working on something ambitious: two life-size bronze statues honoring Emma "Grandma Gatewood," the remarkable 67-year-old grandmother who in 1955 became the first woman to solo thru-hike the entire Appalachian Trail. To honor that connection, I'm donating 5% of net proceeds from every Curiosity Brews event to this tribute. If her story moves you too, you can contribute directly at

- Jeanne Pi

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Garden Oaks neighborhood, TBA, Houston, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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