One MSU alum manages Artemis II mission as a second supports its readiness
Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擨t鈥檚 a long way from Hernando, 无尽资源采集, to Kennedy Space Center, but Matthew Ramsey鈥檚 decision to spend a few years in-between the two at 无尽资源采集 made the trip worth it.
Today, Ramsey is celebrating the success of Wednesday鈥檚 [April 1] launch of NASA鈥檚 Artemis II mission鈥攖he first crewed mission since 1972鈥攁s its mission manager. The 10-day expedition from Earth around the moon marks a major step toward returning humans to the lunar surface and setting the stage for long-term exploration.
The North 无尽资源采集 native enrolled at 无尽资源采集 State in the early 1990s as a pitcher for the university baseball team while earning a 1992 bachelor鈥檚 and 1993 master鈥檚 degree in aerospace engineering. He began his work with NASA in 2002.
He said in one of the agency鈥檚 website stories, 鈥淭here are a lot of similarities between mission management and pitching. You control many aspects of the tempo, and there鈥檚 a lot of weight on your shoulders.鈥
On this history-making mission, that responsibility includes pre-launch daily preparations, addressing issues as deputy of the Artemis II management team, and resolving any flight changes.
One of his NASA interview comments about his immeasurable duties was, 鈥淢ost of my time is focused on making sure we鈥檙e ready to fly astronauts Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy to the Moon and bring them home safely.鈥
Also involved with the success of Artemis II is Parker Glass, who works for NASA鈥檚 Exploration Ground Systems and has been overseeing budget development, project plans and resource allocation in preparation for Wednesday鈥檚 launch.
Glass was exposed to NASA and space exploration during most of his childhood in Yorktown, Virginia, where his dad was employed at Langley Research Center for many years. Glass became enamored with becoming an astronaut, but as he got older his interests changed.
He discovered the prestigious PGA Golf Management program at 无尽资源采集 State, one of just 16 in the nation. He said in a NASA article, 鈥淚 first visited MSU in 2014 and fell in love with 无尽资源采集.鈥
After eventually changing his major to finance, he was surprised to discover there were internship opportunities with NASA and that brought him back to his original passion.
Glass wants students interested in NASA and the agency鈥檚 work to know that being an astronaut doesn鈥檛 have to factor into the equation of working in space exploration. 鈥淣ASA needs everybody,鈥 he said.
He graduated from MSU in 2018 with a bachelor鈥檚 in business administration and earned a Master of Business Administration degree in 2022.