A Georgia Tech graduate will play a role in ensuring the Artemis II astronauts return home safely on Friday evening.
Lili Villarreal graduated from Georgia Tech in 1996 and earned her Master’s of Aerospace Engineering in 1997.
She is currently serving as the NASA Artemis Landing and Recovery Director at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and she’ll be the one in charge of making sure the Artemis II crew lands safely in the Pacific and then back home to American soil.
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“We expect to recover the crew and deliver them to the medical bay within two hours of splashdown,” Villarreal said at an April 8 Artemis II briefing.
It’s a job Villarreal says Georgia Tech helped her prepare for, and one she’s proud to do.
“I love what I’m doing. I love this program. I think it’s an amazing thing that we’re doing for humanity and it’s a stepping stone to eventually us living in other worlds, and I get to be part of that,” she told WSB Radio.
WSB Radio’s Keith Cromwell contributed to this story.