LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Both Centre College and Morehead State University have ties to the historic Artemis II mission.
The Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund announced Tuesday via social media a list of Appalachian natives who played a part in the mission's launch.
Among those was Centre alumnus Jimmy Skaggs, who served as the Spacecraft Flow Manager for Lockheed Martin — the lead contractor responsible for designing, developing, testing and producing the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis missions.
According to Centre, Skaggs is a 2001 graduate who was on track to go to law school until a summer job at the Kennedy Space Center led him toward a career in spacecraft.
While Skaggs made his contributions pre-launch, Morehead State University students are currently tracking the mission as it progresses.
The university was one of only a handful chosen to help support operations for Artemis II.
The students are computing Orion's predicted position, antenna pointing and tuning radio signals.
The students’ calculations help support communications with Orion throughout the mission.
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