The names of nearly 30,000 people whose work made NASA’s Artemis I mission possible will fly inside the Orion spacecraft on its upcoming journey around the Moon. Even though there will be no people aboard Orion for its first flight test with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the spacecraft will carry the tribute on tiny, engraved microchips.
Among the names are team members from NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), industry partners, and suppliers who have contributed to building hardware, developing systems, supporting mission operations, and working on the Orion, SLS, and Exploration Ground Systems programs required for flight. The effort is being done to express gratitude to the dedicated employees who have contributed their time and effort to the flight.
The microchips can hold more than a million etched names using a printing process called electron beam lithography. They will be loaded onto the spacecraft as part of the Artemis I Official Flight Kit. The kit includes mementos for educational engagement and posterity packed in Orion’s storage area. Similar microchips have flown on other NASA missions as part of outreach campaigns that allowed the public to fly their names in space, including Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1, and on NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover.
The chips will include names from large and small contractors who provided key elements or components.
“Our company has been involved in the Orion program from day one, and we are truly honored to see what it has evolved into,” said Mike Riley, CEO of AMRO Fabricating Corp., in South El Monte, California. AMRO manufactures significant components of the pressure vessel — the underlying structure of Orion’s crew module that provides the air-tight, habitable space — as well as large structures for the SLS barrels.
“We are really excited to be part of this critical and historic piece of hardware that will take humans back to the Moon,” Riley said.
Over in the Midwest, Major Tool & Machine in Indianapolis, Indiana, develops critical components for Orion and for the SLS solid rocket boosters and RS-25 engines.
“The excitement from our customers about NASA’s return to the Moon has trickled down to every one of our four hundred employees in Indianapolis,” said Danny Antle, Major Tool & Machine’s vice president of business development. “We’re honored to be a part of the industry team.”
The names of international team members also will be aboard for the journey to Moon, including those from Airbus, ESA’s lead contractor responsible for building the Orion European Service Module that powers and propels the spacecraft in space.
“It is fantastic to be part of the Artemis adventure, and the entire Airbus team is so excited to be propelling Orion with the European Service Module,” said Didier Radola, Airbus head of Moon programs. “By flying our names aboard the maiden Artemis flight to the Moon, a small part of each of us will be flying up there too.”
After the mission, the microchips will be presented to key stakeholders in the U.S. and Europe to provide a physical representation of the NASA, industry workforce, and extended team members instrumental to the historic flight.
Erika Peters
NASA’s Johnson Space Center