NASA recruits top engineers to accelerate Artemis missions
By Meghan Moriarty
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MERRITT ISLAND, Florida (WESH) — In the coming weeks, Artemis II is set to make history, flying four astronauts around the moon.
It comes as NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced major changes to the Artemis program and how to move it forward.
He wants to launch every 10 months, with two moon landings in 2028. Isaacman said NASA needs to move with urgency and purpose.
“I think it’s definitely a win,” Don Platt said.
The director of spaceport education at Florida Tech has experience developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications and rocket propulsion systems.
“It’s a win for the country and for NASA,” he said.
In collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management, NASA launched NASA Force on Wednesday. The new branch of Tech Force is meant to recruit top engineers and technologists.
“To allow NASA to then have the expertise to continue to develop those systems and that technology, and to also point out areas where NASA may have been failing. For instance, we know that NASA’s Artemis program has traditionally been way behind schedule and way over budget,” Platt said. “I think it makes sense to have industry help with that.”
Isaacman recently made changes to the Artemis program, including increasing launch cadence, standardizing hardware and adding missions. This is all in an effort to test systems, reduce risks and build overall confidence before landing.
The agency is adding a new mission in 2027 to reduce the risk of attempting a lunar lander with humans in 2028 without more practice.
Isaacman said it mirrors the formula that led to the Apollo moon landing in 1969: focus, competition and the nation’s best talent working on the hardest problems.
“This is how NASA once changed the world — and this is how we’re going to do it again,” Isaacman said.
According to NASA’s blog, applications will be live soon.
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