Community
BY CATHERINE WHITE
As NASA’s Artemis program advances following its rst crewed mission to the Moon on April 10, former astronaut Bonnie Dunbar sees it as the latest step in a long legacy of human space ight that includes Apollo, the Space Shuttle program and the International Space Station. The historic Artemis 2 mission sent astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a lunar yby, making them the rst humans since Apollo 17 in 1972 to travel beyond low-Earth orbit. “We wouldn’t be there without the Space Shuttle program. We wouldn’t have the [ISS] without the shuttle,” Dunbar said. Dunbar began her 27-year long career at NASA in 1978 as a payload o cer and ight controller at the Johnson Space Center, just as the Space Shuttle program was preparing for its rst ight in 1981. Dunbar was selected in the 1980 astronaut class and became a mission specialist on ve Space Shuttle ights, including STS-61A, STS-32, STS-50, STS-71 and STS-89. Across her career, she logged more than 1,200 hours, or 50 days, in space, according to NASA. Before joining NASA, Dunbar worked on Shut- tle-related research as an undergraduate and later at Rockwell International, where she contributed to Shuttle development. “As an undergraduate, I had the opportunity to work on this brand new set of materials that would cover the outside of the space shuttle to protect it from the high heat of reentry,” Dunbar said. “Arte- mis had a combination of materials we’d used in Apollo and for the shuttle. They were ceramic ber tiles that could be reused for up to 100 missions.” How we got here The Space Shuttle program, o cially the Space Transportation System, or STS, was the rst reus- able spacecraft system designed to carry astronauts and equipment into low-Earth orbit and return them for reuse, according to NASA’s website. “If you look at the components of the Artemis, there are parts that were actually built for the space shuttle and are being repurposed,” she said. “What we learned about life support systems on the shut- tle was an essential part of training the engineers and the students to be able to do Artemis.” However, the two programs di er signi cantly Former astronaut speaks on shuttle legacy, future of Artemis program
Dunbar was selected in the 1980 astronaut class and became a mission specialist on ve Space Shuttle ights, including STS- 61A, STS 32, STS 50, STS 71 and STS 89.
PHOTOS COURTESY NASA
Dunbar signs rst cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s diary with her STS 71 crew mate Anatoly Solovyev (right) in 1995.
Dunbar wears an extravehicular mobility unit spacesuit in 1989.
stone toward long-term lunar exploration and even- tual Mars missions, particularly through the Moon’s south pole. As the Artemis program opens a new era of human space ight, Dunbar pointed to the prepara- tion she believes future astronauts will need most. “Be serious. Always be prepared,” Dunbar said. “Take as much math, science and literature and humanities and languages that you can. You have this opportunity to learn so much, so use it.”
in mission design and engineering approach as the Shuttle, designed for low Earth orbit, was reusable. “With the shuttle, you launched like a rocket and landed like an airplane. Artemis has a lot more thrust and it has to escape Earth’s gravity,” Dunbar said. “The only part that really gets to the Moon is the capsule that’s at the top.” What’s next Dunbar sees the Artemis 2 mission as a stepping
28
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook