Chief astronauts: ‘Artemis program shows things that have never been seen before’

Acabá, currently responsible for managing the resources and operations of about 40 astronauts, will oversee crew selection for the next Artemis missions after the first return to Earth last December after a 25-day mission in a orbit around the moon.

Artemis 1 traveled without astronauts, but Artemis 2, scheduled for 2024, will be the first crewed mission of this program, and as Acabá points out, NASA hopes to deliver three American members (the fourth crew member will be provided by the Canadian Space Agency) in the next two months.

“We know that the people we choose will do a great job, not only during the mission, but also as representatives of astronauts and the United States,” said Acabá, a geologist who has served on the 306th mission since being selected by NASA . In 2004, he spent days in space.

Facing Artemis 3, the first astronaut to take astronauts to the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, the US space agency is trying to assemble a diverse team, including the first woman and the first person of color. reached the moon.

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INSPIRATION IS PART OF THE MISSION

Born in California in 1967, the veteran astronaut of Puerto Rican descent understands the lure of spaceflight that makes students “dream big” and believes that dazzle in that sense will only get bigger with the next Artemis missions “going bigger” . than anything we’ve seen before.”

“My personal interest in space started when my grandparents watched the Apollo missions, and I hope that seeing Artemis missions in young students will spark their imagination,” Acabá said, adding that “inspiration is another big part of it’s a mission.”

The current enthusiasm in the aerospace industry has no doubt been fueled by private company flights with SpaceX, thanks to a contract with NASA to send missions to the International Space Station (ISS), an industry that is expected to do so. the arrival of new companies like Boeing are on the rise.

Acabá said it is one of NASA’s missions to assist in such “commercialization of space,” and while very few are currently selected for collaborative projects by the space agency, “the goal is to make space accessible to everyone. “

“It will happen, the place will be more available in the future,” he said.

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EDUCATION AND TEAMWORK

The astronaut, who will replace Drew Feustel in his new assignment at the US Space Agency, who has served as interim agency chief since Reid Wiseman’s departure in late 2022, has no qualms about affirming that being in space is one of his greatest experiences. His life.

During his time as an astronaut, Acabá performed three space missions, the first aboard the Discovery Shuttle, which became STS-119 in 2009 and used its fourth pair of solar panel wings to fly to the ISS, and then two spacewalks when it arrived at an Im Orbital Laboratory.

His next two assignments in 2012 and 2018 were to serve as a flight engineer aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for the space station Expeditions 31/32 and 53/54.

Since then, the UC Santa Barbara geologist has supported the Astronaut Office in a variety of roles, including Director of Operations in Russia and Chief of the Vehicle Integration Test Office.

He points out that a key requirement to become an astronaut is a bachelor’s degree in higher education, which can be a wide range.

“We are looking for people who can work in a team,” he says.