Listen to this audio excerpt from Rebekah Tolatovicz, a mechanical technician lead supporting the Orion spacecraft’s main contractor Lockheed Martin: At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, there is a fleet of Orion spacecraft in work, and Rebekah Tolatovicz’s hands have helped build each one. Tolatovicz works to build, integrate, and test the spacecraft used […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Dan Florez, test director for NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program: At 1:47 a.m. EST November 16, 2022, as the Artemis I engines ignited, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and Dan Florez, NASA test director for the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems, watched from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center roof as the midnight […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Erik Richards, Near Space Network Mission Manager: For Erik Richards, supporting NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon and back is the culmination of a career spent helping spacecraft communicate with Earth. Like many kids who grew up at the height of the Space Shuttle Program, Richards dreamed of spaceflight — a dream that eventually took him from the remote McMurdo Station in Antarctica to […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Paul Boehm, Orion crew support and thermal systems functional area manager: As the Artemis II astronauts fly around the Moon, they’ll rely on systems inside the Orion spacecraft to live, work, and keep them safe during their mission. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Paul Boehm, crew support and […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Katie Oriti, Orion European Service Module Integration Office manager: Growing up in rural America, Katie Oriti could only dream of working for NASA. Not because she wasn’t inspired by the dark, star-filled skies of her hometown Shelby, Ohio, but because it felt out of reach. “I think NASA was […]
Jesse Berdis’s dream of becoming a structural engineer began with visions of skyscrapers rising above the Dallas and Oklahoma skyline. Today, that dream has soared beyond city limits, reaching towering heights at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Doug Parkinson’s face lights up as he starts telling his story, how someone from Wisconsin now plays a part in the team that will help land the first Artemis astronauts on to the Moon. Parkinson serves as NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket lead for Launch Integration and Mission Operations, guiding engineers responsible for monitoring […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Dustin Gohmert, Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) manager: During NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon, the astronauts inside the Orion spacecraft will be wearing specialized pressure suits designed to protect them throughout their journey. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Dustin Gohmert leads the team responsible for […]
As booster manager for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System), Dave Reynolds’ path to NASA is embodied by his childhood poster of the space shuttle’s Return to Flight initiative, which hangs in his office, serving as a constant reminder that his journey to the agency began decades ago. Growing up in Roy, Utah, Reynolds remembers standing […]
Listen to this audio excerpt from Jacki Mahaffey, Artemis II chief training officer: When the Artemis II crew travels around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, they will have spent countless hours training for their lunar mission, and Jacki Mahaffey will have played a role in preparing them for their journey. As the Artemis II […]