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Maria Bualat is a pioneering robotics researcher at NASA Ames Research Center whose career spans over two decades of groundbreaking work in space robotics, autonomous systems, and human-robot collaboration. Her research centers on developing and deploying robotic platforms for extreme environments, from planetary surfaces to the International Space Station. Bualat is perhaps best known as a key architect of the Astrobee project — a free-flying robotic system designed to operate inside the ISS. Her series of foundational papers on Astrobee (2015–2018, collectively accumulating nearly 200 citations) established the platform as a transformative tool for station operations, reducing astronaut workload and enabling zero-gravity robotics research. This work replaced the earlier SPHERES system and opened new frontiers in autonomous interior spacecraft operations. Earlier in her career, Bualat contributed significantly to planetary rover technology, including vision-based control systems for the Marsokhod rover and field operations with the Nomad robot during the Atacama Desert Trek. Her research on lunar surface utility robots and human-robot survey teams (2006–2010) helped shape NASA's strategy for sustainable lunar exploration. With over 400 cumulative citations across her most influential works, Bualat's contributions represent a remarkable bridge between terrestrial robotics experimentation and operational space systems.