Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. Credit: NASA
By Bianca Licitra
Though NASA’s astronauts are back on Earth following the completion of the Artemis II mission, the scientific impact of their historic trip around the moon will continue to reverberate for years to come – and research from AAU member universities is partially responsible for the success of the program that launched it. The mission’s success demonstrates the importance of the NASA-university research partnership – and the need to continue robust federal support for the agency.
On April 1, a four-person astronaut crew boarded a rocket and launched into space for the Artemis II mission, a 10-day journey that would take them around the far side of the moon and back. The mission marks the first crewed journey to the moon in more than 50 years. The crew returned to Earth on April 10, having set a record for the farthest distance humans have ever travelled from Earth.
Research universities play an essential role in advancing NASA’s mission by providing high-quality research and educating NASA’s current and future workforce. NASA has been partnering with universities for more than 60 years, practically since the agency’s inception. The collaboration has revolutionized space sciences, life sciences, and aeronautics, and inspired the next generation of scientists.
Here are some of AAU institutions’ contributions to Artemis II:
- Harvard University scientists sent thumb drive-sized devices called “organ chips” on the space journey. The devices contained bone marrow grown from the astronaut’s own cells and will help researchers study the impact of deep space conditions (including microgravity and cosmic radiation) on living human tissue.
- Three alumni from Purdue University were part of the Landing and Recovery Operations team, which retrieved the astronauts and spacecraft after splashdown and safely transported them to a Navy ship.
- Rice University researchers collaborated with the NASA Johnson Space Center to develop the parachute system that ensured the astronauts’ safe landing as they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
- Scientists at the University of South Florida stood by the Kennedy Space Center during lift off to capture rare seismic and infrasound data in order to determine the impacts of the launch on Earth. USF’s seismology group has recorded data from around 240 launches over the past decade.
- Eight engineering alumni from the University of Texas at Austin made significant contributions to the mission, from flight direction to ascent control, to flight dynamics and mission safety.
- NASA selected both University of California, Berkeley and the University of Pittsburgh as two of 34 global volunteers, and two of eight universities, to help track the spacecraft during the mission.
AAU institutions are also slated to play key roles in future Artemis missions:
- The University of Arizona, which has played a vital role in U.S. space exploration since before the Apollo missions, developed a seismometer that will travel to space on a future Artemis mission to carry out continuous, long-term monitoring of the moon’s environment and structure.
- Stony Brook University Professor Timothy Glotch will be part of Artemis’s first lunar surface science team, helping to shape a science plan for astronauts to complete upon landing.
- Washington University in St. Louis has been designated as the lead data repository for the Artemis. The university will be charged with collecting and managing mission data, as well as making the data accessible to scientists and people around the world.
The Artemis II mission has put the United States on track to lead the 21st century space race – and the future of American leadership in space exploration depends on university research.
Bianca Licitra is editorial and communications assistant as AAU.