'A memory marker:' Artemis mission inspires possibilities

For Sara Nelson and countless others across the country, Artemis II represents more than a mission to the moon.

"This is a historic event and a memory marker for many people," said the director of the NASA Iowa Space Grant Consortium and Iowa NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. "I have had so many people contact me to say that they watched the launch with their family or that they stopped work to watch it. It's those kinds of moments that later on you realize are the start of something truly amazing."

NASA's Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years, sending four astronauts on a 10-day, record-breaking flyby around the lunar far side and back. The mission began on April 1 and the astronauts set a record by traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history, breaking the mark set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. The shuttle is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday, April 10, at 7:07 p.m. central time, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

Nelson, an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Education, works to connect faculty with NASA projects -- like Artemis -- and in other roles. She also conducts education outreach.

"We work with everyone from pre-K through a career, but our main focus is workforce development, primarily at the high school and undergraduate level," she said. "The Artemis mission is pivotal because a lot of young people now can see themselves going to space."

Nelson said Artemis II highlights STEM fields and the many ways people can be involved in space exploration, from working at mission control to designing space shuttles and lunar equipment.

Future Artemis missions will focus on building a sustained lunar presence. Artemis III (2027) will test docking with commercial equipment in Earth's orbit, and Artemis IV (early 2028) is aimed at landing the first crew since 1972 on the moon's South Pole.

Iowa State's astronaut

One of the few dozen people worldwide who knew what the astronauts were feeling when they blasted off is Clayton Anderson. Anderson, who earned his master's degree at Iowa State in aerospace engineering, has spent 167 days in space over two missions, including a 152-day stay on the International Space Station in 2007 as a flight engineer.

"I think it's an incredibly important first step," he said of the Artemis missions. "In today's world, it's good that we can show that America still has the ability to do incredible things.

"For a kid who watched Apollo 8 in 1968 doing exactly what they are doing today and inspiring me to go on my astronaut journey, who knows how many kids we can inspire this time," he added.

Anderson said beyond returning to space, the technological advancements allow the astronauts to capture digital pictures of the moon that exceed anything previously recorded. Anderson hopes the next space station is a base on the moon.

"I would like to see that station where we have crews exchanging every six months, so we can learn to live and work on the lunar surface. Then we'd know better how to attack living and working on Mars," he said.

Anderson, an aerospace engineering (AE) professor of practice, said AE students benefit from the opportunities to build and launch airplanes, rockets and satellites as part of their education. In addition, they can learn with a retired astronaut, NASA flight director (Tomas Gonzalez-Torres) and jet fighter pilot (Dwight De Jong).

Opportunities to learn though hands-on activities serve students well later on and make learning easier than simply reading about it in a book, Anderson said. He is a firm believer that Iowa State produces some of the best AEs in the nation.

"I am very proud to be Iowa State's first and only astronaut, but hopefully not Iowa State's last astronaut," he said.

Iowa State and NASA

Nelson said several Iowa State students have worked on the Artemis missions as interns at NASA. Faculty also have a role through their research. Currently, faculty have projects dedicated to food production on the moon, living and working in space and rover design for moon exploration.

"We place a lot of interns with NASA and some of them are working on things that are part of the Artemis mission directly or adjacent to it," Nelson said. "Our alumni from the aerospace department working directly on the Artemis program came to campus and presented the Iowa flag that flew on the Artemis I mission. It will be on display in the department."