Lorain County residents support NASA's Artemis I lunar mission

CLEVELAND — The future of space exploration has its eyes in space, and its roots in Ohio. On Monday, NASA will launch Artemis I, the first of several missions aimed at sending humans back to the moon with the goal to plan for future Mars missions. Artemis I has no crew, but will help test the next-generation Orion modules, the Space Launch System rocket or SLS, and help gather data and for Artemis II, the planned and first crewed moon mission in 50 years. Artemis I is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:33 a.m. Monday, though that is subject to change. It has no crew, but Artemis II will, with plans to land the first woman of color and the next man on the moon in the coming years. Much of the research, planning, design and testing work flowed through the Buckeye State, with more than 60 Ohio companies providing support or efforts to experts at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Among the many American and European space experts working to make the mission a reality are two North Ridgeville women whose expertise in science helped them put their mark on the historic mission. Dr. Dionne Hernandez-Lugo is deputy flight systems manager for the power and propulsion element of Gateway, a space station that will launch on a future Artemis mission to support future moon landings. With a doctorate from the University of Puerto Rico and expertise in next-generation power technology including batteries, nuclear fission, power and propulsion, Hernandez-Lugo moved to Ohio in 2013 to work for NASA and has been a North Ridgeville resident since 2014. "We like to say that 'If you're going to the moon, you have to go through Ohio,'" she said. NASA Glenn is the power and propulsion leader for the entire agency. Hernandez-Lugo's project, Gateway, "gives us the opportunity to have more access to the lunar surface." The station has a 60-kilowatt solar electric propulsion or SEP system allowing it to move in lunar orbit. Artemis I also will test the capabilities of the SLS and the Orion capsule, with one of the objectives being to test the heat shield on the capsule to make sure it can withstand temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Another aim of all the testing and research done for Artemis is to use it to eventually send humans to Mars, Hernandez-Lugo said. The lunar surface will also be used as a testing ground for rovers that could be used on the red planet. Hernandez-Lugo said you want to test technology "in a relevant environment" like the moon, to simulate what might be found on Mars. NASA Glenn researchers and the U.S. Department of Energy also are working on developing a 40-kilowatt fission reactor to put on the surface of the moon "to be able to give constant power to astronauts in their habitats as well as instruments," Hernandez-Lugo said. That power is needed because the lunar night is 14 Earth days, with no sun, "so you need to have technology that will allow you to do the science, as well as make sure that the astronauts when they do have their habitat and they're working in space, that they can have the power that they need," she said. Another person working to make sure that the Orion spacecraft can get future astronauts to the Moon is Kristen Bury. "I'm telling everyone who will listen, strangers in line at the grocery store, about this vehicle. I tell them tune in at 8:33 a.m. August 29th because there's a rocket going to the moon and it's kind of a big deal," she said. A Toledo native and graduate of the University of Toledo with a degree in chemical engineering, Bury has been involved with planning and working on the Orion spacecraft for her 15-year NASA career. She now manages the integration of the European-built Orion service module with the U.S.-built Orion crew module out of the European Service Module Integration Office. In love with space "since I was a little girl," Bury said her parents' support enabled her to go to Space Camp twice, as well as to engineering camp. Her future NASA career started with a career fair at UT. She got there two hours early to be at the front of the line, and when the doors opened, "I made a beeline" for the NASA booth at the end of the hallway, Bury said. She was brought on as a co-op student intern and hired full-time by NASA after graduation. Bury immediately went to work on the Orion service module, analyzing, assessing and modeling how its solar arrays would work in a space environment. "Sometimes I pinch myself and ask 'Am I really here working for NASA on the moon program?' It's surreal at times," Bury said. Starting with the Artemis II crewed mission, the American-made crew module will be powered, propelled and provided water and air supply by the European-made service module. That means ensuring complex technical interfaces work together and that the service module provides the crew module with fluids, power and gasses that pass back and forth effortlessly. Bury keeps the program's business side, its multiple collaborators and contractors in sync so they're all "working the same design," she said. That includes timing: Making sure the rocket, crew and service modules are all in place at just the right time and the modules stacked on top of the rocket, which NASA said is the most-powerful in the world. Orion will fly farther than any other spacecraft humanity has built and flown, staying in space longer than any other without docking to a space station and returning to Earth "faster and hotter than ever before," according to NASA. Vibration testing on the Orion capsule was done at the Neal Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky. Bury will be in Florida on Monday, watching from a nearby causeway at the start of Artemis I's planned 8:33 a.m. liftoff. NASA said the mission is intended to last 42 days spanning 1.3 million miles and end with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 10. Artemis I "is just the beginning," Bury said. "The campaign is really very exciting, it's not just 'boots on the moon.' It's not your mother's Apollo program." Humans will be establishing a sustainable presence on the moon with rovers, landers, and the Gateway space station in orbit, with crews going back and forth to the moon on a regular basis. Bury and Hernandez-Lugo said they were proud to be part of the teams that are helping put the first woman and person of color on the moon, and enjoy the opportunities for educational outreach that NASA careers provide. Hernandez-Lugo said it's important for girls in cities like Lorain and Cleveland to be mentored and encouraged in the sciences. "As a woman of color myself, you want to work as hard as you can, to make sure that those coming behind you can see you as a role model and potentially see themselves as joining the agency or working in the science area," she said. "The part that really drives me is to be able to help as many young ladies as I can to either learn about my journey and how I got here if NASA is where they want to be or learn about my journey — about how I study science or the issues or different challenges I might have had." She pointed to Hispanic astronauts José Hernández and Dr. Ellen Ochoa as "very elite" role models for Puerto Ricans like herself, along with Dr. Marla Pérez-Davis, the first Puerto Rican-born director of the NASA Glenn Research Center, who retired in June. "If I can at least inspire a couple girls to come here and work for us, I think I've done my job," Hernandez-Lugo said. Bury, who said she loves talking to school-age children about her passions for the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics gave this advice to future space explorers, engineers and project managers: "Study hard, work really hard, study as much math and science as you can and just keep looking up," she said. "Exploration is such a beautiful promise. It shows the boundaries we can transcend when we work together." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT. ARTEMIS I LAUNCH EVENTS From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, NASA Glenn and the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland are hosting "Artemis Day," with exhibits, activities and NASA experts talking about NASA Glenn and the regional role in space flight and a return to the moon. Starting at 6:30 a.m. Monday, the Great Lakes Science Center will livestream the NASA TV broadcast of prelaunch activities. A NASA expert will be on hand to answer questions. Registration is free but required, and includes refreshments and admission to the science center for the day. To register or for more information on the weekend's events, visit greatscience.com/explore/events-programs/artemis-celebration-weekend. The 8:33 a.m. launch time is subject to change. Terminal Tower in Cleveland will be lit up blue on Monday to celebrate the launch.