OSHKOSH - Jim Farrington was 18 years old when he watched the first moon landing. Over 50 years later, he brought his 18-year-old nephew, Carson Fuller, an aspiring aerospace engineer, to EAA AirVenture to learn more about NASA's next mission to the moon.
They attended a NASA panel Friday on the upcoming Artemis II mission and the Gateway lunar space station.
NASA is preparing for its 10-day Artemis II mission , with an expected launch date in September 2025. The goal of the mission is to expand on what was learned through the Apollo missions and collect data that will assist in the Artemis Program preparations to land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon.
Randy Bresnik, a NASA astronaut, said the crewmembers have been preparing to take off on the Orion spacecraft. They are also preparing to land in the water where the Navy will retrieve them and the Orion with its wealth of data.
Reid Wiseman, the commander of the Artemis II mission crew, will be accompanied by Victor Glover, the pilot, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
Yesterday, the Artemis II crew arrived in Iceland, training for their landing in the same areas that the Apollo crews trained in, Bresnik said.
The goal of the Artemis Program is to establish a long-term presence on the moon, allowing for further exploration and research to be conducted. Part of that plan is the construction of Gateway, the Lunar space station.
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Along with the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, among others, NASA is helping to construct the first ever space station that will orbit the moon.
Bresnik said that all agencies involved in its construction will be able to conduct their own research from the station.
"It's neat to see all these space agencies from all these countries around the world join so that we continue to make it humanity's exploration effort, not just one country," Bresnik said.
Bresnik said efforts like the Gateway space station give him hope that "no matter what goes on between governments here on Earth, that's a place we can peacefully continue to explore and work together."
The space station will allow astronauts to live and work there for up to 90 days at a time while they prepare for lunar surface missions and conduct research. The station will serve as a "home away from home" for astronauts during missions and allow NASA to have a crew onboard for about 30 days per year. The rest of the time, the station will run autonomously, said John Olansen, Gateway program manager at the Johnson Space Center.
"It will be the first elements that are put out there for permanent presence," Olansen said. "It will serve as an aggregation point where other elements will be able to be built on to the Gateway. It will have access to the entire lunar surface ... specifically the south pole where we're going to be targeting."
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Meanwhile, Carson Fuller is preparing to head off to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, and hopes to be a NASA engineer one day. He said he left the panel feeling inspired and excited that a lunar landing may occur in his lifetime.
"These are things that we're going to get to share and be a part of, and see it happen on our own television screens, not just hearing about it from our grandparents," Fuller said. "This is the kind of stuff we're going to be telling our grandchildren."
AirVenture runs through July 28.
The 71st EAA AirVenture Oshkosh runs daily through July 28 at Wittman Regional Airport, 525 W. 20th Ave., Oshkosh. Daily tickets are $45 for adult members and $63 for adult non-members. Veterans and active military members pay $45 while kids 18 years and younger are admitted free. For more information, go to https://www.eaa.org/airventure .
Alyssa N. Salcedo is a reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. She can be reached at asalcedo@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: NASA panel at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh discusses mission to return to the moon in 2025
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