CLEVELAND, Ohio—Astronaut Dough Wheelock says the ambitious Artemis project is the pathway to putting the next man and the first woman on the moon by 2024.
- NASA is working on a major space exploration project to get man back on the moon and a woman on the moon for the first time by 2024
- Astronaut Doug Wheelock is training the next generation of space travelers at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
- NASA says over a hundred Ohio companies are contributing to the program
Astronaut Doug Wheelock has spent a significant amount of time in space.
“My path to NASA is a very common one, from very humble, ordinary beginnings, to the stars,” said Wheelock.
That path started when he was a child in rural upstate New York, watching Ohio’s own Neil Armstrong become the first man on the moon.
“I thought to myself, wow what an incredible time we live in,” said Wheelock. “But it was a world way distant from me. It’s nothing I could ever understand. This must be extraordinary people that are accomplishing these things and getting these opportunities.”
He’s now the astronaut children look up to, as he trains the next generation of space travelers at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
He’s also working on the ambitious Artemis project — to return man and women to the moon.
“For us, it’s not about the boot, or about the spacecraft landing on the moon, or on Mars…for us, it’s the journey in between,” said Wheelock. “Today, here and now. Until that moment, and all the things we’re going to learn about ourselves. All the things we’re going to learn about our planet. All the things we’re going to learn about technology.”
NASA says 124 companies in Ohio are supporting Artemis through contributions to the project involving Europe, China and Russia.
Among those are Unity Cable Technologies in Toledo, which is working to modify universal cooling systems, helping to make the next great human space discovery become a reality.
“We’re going back to stay,” said Wheelock. “It’s a resupply point, a refueling point to go down to the surface of the moon, we also live there and go deeper into space. And we’re going to see like a miniature space station orbiting the moon.”
And while Wheelock feels the excitement of history, he also enjoys what he’s doing to inspire the next generation of innovators.
“When you give a creative mind or a curious heart an endless supply of nurturing and encouragement, you can change the world,” Wheelock said.
Artemis was the goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology.