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Engineering Reality: Lee Bingham Leads Lunar Surface Simulation Support for Artemis Campaign
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By NASA
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) teamed up June 11 and 12 to simulate emergency procedures they would use to rescue the Artemis II crew in the event of a launch emergency. The simulations, which took place off the coast of Florida and were supported by launch and flight control teams, are preparing NASA to send four astronauts around the Moon and back next year as part of the agency’s first crewed Artemis mission.
The team rehearsed procedures they would use to rescue the crew during an abort of NASA’s Orion spacecraft while the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket is still on the launch pad, as well as during ascent to space. A set of test mannequins and a representative version of Orion called the Crew Module Test Article, were used during the tests.
The launch team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flight controllers in mission control at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, as well as the mission management team, all worked together, exercising their integrated procedures for these emergency scenarios.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.NASA/Isaac Watson “Part of preparing to send humans to the Moon is ensuring our teams are ready for any scenario on launch day,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s assistant deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, and who also is chair of the mission management team for Artemis II. “We’re getting closer to our bold mission to send four astronauts around the Moon, and our integrated testing helps ensure we’re ready to bring them home in any scenario.”
The launch pad abort scenario was up first. The teams conducted a normal launch countdown before declaring an abort before the rocket was scheduled to launch. During a real pad emergency, Orion’s launch abort system would propel Orion and its crew a safe distance away and orient it for splashdown before the capsule’s parachutes would then deploy ahead of a safe splashdown off the coast of Florida.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for a launch pad abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson For the simulated splashdown, the test Orion with mannequins aboard was placed in the water five miles east of Kennedy. Once the launch team made the simulated pad abort call, two Navy helicopters carrying U.S. Air Force pararescuers departed nearby Patrick Space Force Base. The rescuers jumped into the water with unique DoD and NASA rescue equipment to safely approach the spacecraft, retrieve the mannequin crew, and transport them for medical care in the helicopters, just as they would do in the event of an actual pad abort during the Artemis II mission.
The next day focused on an abort scenario during ascent to space.
The Artemis recovery team set up another simulation at sea 12 miles east of Kennedy, using the Orion crew module test article and mannequins. With launch and flight control teams supporting, as was the Artemis II crew inside a simulator at Johnson, the rescue team sprung into action after receiving the simulated ascent abort call and began rescue procedures using a C-17 aircraft and U.S. Air Force pararescuers. Upon reaching the capsule, the rescuers jumped from the C-17 with DoD and NASA unique rescue gear. In an actual ascent abort, Orion would separate from the rocket in milliseconds to safely get away prior to deploying parachutes and splashing down.
Teams with NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) rehearse recovery procedures for an ascent abort scenario off the coast of Florida near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, June 12, 2025. NASA/Isaac Watson Rescue procedures are similar to those used in the Underway Recovery Test conducted off the California coast in March. This demonstration ended with opening the hatch and extracting the mannequins from the capsule, so teams stopped without completing the helicopter transportation that would be used during a real rescue.
Exercising procedures for extreme scenarios is part of NASA’s work to execute its mission and keep the crew safe. Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.
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By NASA
3 Min Read I Am Artemis: Ernesto Garcia
Ernesto Garcia, engineering manager at Rayotech Scientific, Inc., holds a test article of one of the windowpanes for the Orion spacecraft. Credits: NASA/Rad Sinyak Listen to this audio excerpt from Ernesto Garcia, Rayotech Scientific engineering manager:
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My name is Ernesto Garcia, and I am an engineering manager at Rayotech Scientific in San Diego, in charge of fabricating the windowpanes for the Orion spacecraft.
Fabricating Orion’s windowpanes entails a very strict manufacturing process. It involves first starting from a giant sheet of glass that we cut down to near net shape. Once we get down to that near net shape, we perform a grinding operation. We grind the window edges and grind the faces.
The windows are visible on the Orion spacecraft crew module for Artemis I, shown here on May 2, 2019, undergoing direct field acoustic testing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.NASA/Rad Sinyak Once we do all that grinding, we perform a specialized process where we actually strengthen the edges of the window. Since most of the window’s strength comes from the edges, we want to make sure that those are perfect and pristine, and so we minimize any subsurface damage that is around that. Then we send it off to get polished and coated.
After that, we perform pressure testing in our lab, which is really the most important thing that is required for this window to prove that it can survive in space. We apply the required stresses to make sure that the windows can survive on the Orion spacecraft.
The opportunity to be part of this program has been something that I’m really proud of.
When I was a child, I always wanted to work for NASA — and now, I work directly with NASA engineers, work with the windows first-hand, and work to develop processes.
Ernesto Garcia
Engineering Manager, Rayotech Scientific
Coming up with ideas of how to manufacture [the windows] and then coming up with the pressure testing equipment to verify that they are going to survive in space was extremely fulfilling.
Being able to participate in Artemis I and seeing those windows on that [Orion spacecraft] — seeing it go into space — was probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever experienced besides having my kids. My children are immensely proud of what I’m doing. Seeing my kids’ reactions when I’m letting them know that I’m working directly with people that are putting things in space, with people that are making changes in the world — it’s something that inspires them.
NASA astronauts and Artemis II crew members Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover look through a window of Orion spacecraft mockup during Post Insertion and Deorbit Preparation training at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Houston, Texas. The crew practiced getting the Orion spacecraft configured once in orbit, how to make it habitable, and suited up in their entry pressure suits to prepare for their return from the Moon.Mark Sowa – NASA – JSC I imagine it will be a very special experience for the Artemis II astronauts to look out of these windows on their mission around the Moon. For them to be able to just look out and see what’s around them…to explore what else is out there from their eyes, not a camera’s point of view. It’s going to be pretty extraordinary that they’ll be able to see from their eyes — through our windows — something that not everybody else gets to see.
About the Author
Erika Peters
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Last Updated Jun 10, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
4 Min Read NASA Student Challenge Prepares Future Designers for Lunar Missions
At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, the next generation of lunar explorers and engineers are already hard at work. Some started with sketchbooks and others worked with computer-aided design files, but all had a vision of how design could thrive in extreme environments.
Thanks to NASA’s Student Design Challenge, Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS), those visions are finding their way into real mission technologies.
NASA’s Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students (SUITS) teams test their augmented reality devices at the Mars Rock Yard during the 2025 test week at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Credit: NASA/James Blair The SUITS challenge invites university and graduate students from across the U.S. to design, build, and test interactive displays integrated into spacesuit helmets, continuing an eight-year tradition of hands-on field evaluations that simulate conditions astronauts may face on the lunar surface. The technology aims to support astronauts with real-time navigation, task management, and scientific data visualization during moonwalks. While the challenge provides a unique opportunity to contribute to future lunar missions, for many participants, SUITS offers something more: a launchpad to aerospace careers.
The challenge fosters collaboration between students in design, engineering, and computer science—mirroring the teamwork needed for real mission development.
NASA SUITS teams test their augmented reality devices at Johnson’s Mars Rock Yard on May 21, 2025.
Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz SUITS taught me how design can be pushed to solve for the many niche challenges that come with an environment as unique and unforgiving as space.
Keya Shah
Softgoods Engineering Technologist
Keya Shah, now a softgoods engineering technologist in Johnson’s Softgoods Laboratory, discovered her path through SUITS while studying industrial design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
“SUITS taught me how design can be pushed to solve for the many niche challenges that come with an environment as unique and unforgiving as space,” Shah said. “Whether applied to digital or physical products, it gave me a deep understanding of how intuitive and thoughtfully designed solutions are vital for space exploration.”
As chief designer for her team’s 2024 Mars spacewalk project, Shah led more than 30 designers and developers through rounds of user flow mapping, iterative prototyping, and interface testing.
“Design holds its value in making you think beyond just the ‘what’ to solve a problem and figure out ‘how’ to make the solution most efficient and user-oriented,” she said, “SUITS emphasized that, and I continually strive to highlight these strengths with the softgoods I design.”
Shah now works on fabric-based flight hardware at Johnson, including thermal and acoustic insulation blankets, tool stowage packs, and spacesuit components.
“There’s a very exciting future in human space exploration at the intersection of softgoods with hardgoods and the digital world, through innovations like smart textiles, wearable technology, and soft robotics,” Shah said. “I look forward to being part of it.”
Softgoods Engineering Technologist Keya Shah evaluates the SUITS interface design during the 2025 test week.
Credit: NASA/James Blair For RISD alumnus Felix Arwen, now a softgoods engineer at Johnson, the challenge offered invaluable hands-on experience. “It gave me the opportunity to take projects from concept to a finished, tested product—something most classrooms didn’t push me to do,” Arwen said.
Serving as a technical adviser and liaison between SUITS designers and engineers, Arwen helped bridge gaps between disciplines—a skill critical to NASA’s team-based approach.
“It seems obvious now, but I didn’t always realize how much design contributes to space exploration,” Arwen said. “The creative, iterative process is invaluable. Our work isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about usability, safety, and mission success.”
Arwen played a key role in expanding RISD’s presence across multiple NASA Student Design Challenges, including the Human Exploration Rover Challenge, the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams, and the Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing Idea Challenge. The teams, often partnering with Brown University, demonstrated how a design-focused education can uniquely contribute to solving complex engineering problems.
“NASA’s Student Design Challenges gave me the structure to focus my efforts on learning new skills and pursuing projects I didn’t even know I’d be interested in,” he said.
It seems obvious now, but I didn’t always realize how much design contributes to space exploration. The creative, iterative process is invaluable. Our work isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about usability, safety, and mission success.
Felix Arwen
Softgoods Engineer
Softgoods Engineer Felix Arwen tests hardware while wearing pressurized gloves inside a vacuum glovebox. Both Arwen and Shah remain involved with SUITS as mentors and judges, eager to support the next generation of space designers.
Their advice to current participants? Build a portfolio that reflects your passion, seek opportunities outside the classroom, and do not be afraid to apply for roles that might not seem to fit a designer.
“While the number of openings for a designer at NASA might be low, there will always be a need for good design work, and if you have the portfolio to back it up, you can apply to engineering roles that just might not know they need you yet,” Arwen said.
SUIT teams test their augmented reality devices during nighttime activities on May 21, 2025.
Credit: NASA/Robert MarkowitzNASA/Robert Markowitz As NASA prepares for lunar missions, the SUITS challenge continues to bridge the gap between student imagination and real-world innovation, inspiring a new wave of space-ready problem-solvers.
“Design pushes you to consistently ask ‘what if?’ and reimagine what’s possible,” Shah said. “That kind of perspective will always stay core to NASA.”
Are you interested in joining the next NASA SUITS challenge? Find more information here.
The next challenge will open for proposals at the end of August 2025.
About the Author
Sumer Loggins
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Last Updated Jun 10, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Keith Barr was born only months before the historic Apollo 11 landing in 1969. While he was too young to witness that giant leap for mankind, the moment sparked a lifelong fascination that set him on a path to design technology that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before.
Today, Barr serves as a chief engineer and Orion Docking Lidar Field Test lead at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He spearheads the field testing of docking lidars for the Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts to the Moon on the Artemis III mission. These lidars are critical to enabling Orion to autonomously dock with the human landing system on Artemis III — the mission that will land astronauts near the Moon’s South Pole for the first time in history.
Keith Barr prepares for a wind lidar test flight in one of the U.S. Navy’s Twin Otter aircraft in support of the AC-130 Gunship lidar program. “The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions are some of humanity’s greatest technical achievements,” he said. “To be part of the Artemis chapter is a profound honor.”
In recognition of his contributions, Barr was selected as a NASA Space Flight Awareness Honoree in 2025 for his exceptional dedication to astronaut safety and mission success. Established in 1963, NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program celebrates individuals who play a vital role in supporting human spaceflight. The award is one of the highest honors presented to the agency’s workforce.
With a career spanning over 25 years at Lockheed Martin, Barr is now recognized as a renowned leader in lidar systems—technologies that use laser light to measure distances. He has led numerous lidar deployments and test programs across commercial aviation, wind energy, and military markets.
In 2019, Barr and his team began planning a multi-phase field campaign to validate Orion’s docking lidars under real-world conditions. They repurposed existing hardware, developed a drone-based simulation system, and conducted dynamic testing at Lockheed Martin facilities in Littleton, Colorado, and Santa Cruz, California.
In Littleton, the team conducted two phases of testing at the Space Operations Simulation Center, evaluating performance across distances ranging from 50 meters to docking. At the Santa Cruz facility, they began much farther out at 6,500 meters and tested down to 10 meters, just before the final docking phase.
Of all these efforts, Barr is especially proud of the ingenuity behind the Santa Cruz tests. To simulate a spacecraft docking scenario, he repurposed a lidar pointing gimbal and test trailer from previous projects and designed a drone-based test system with unprecedented accuracy.
“An often-overlooked portion of any field campaign is the measurement and understanding of truth,” he said. “The system I designed allowed us to record lidar and target positions with accuracy never before demonstrated in outdoor docking lidar testing.”
Testing at the Santa Cruz Facility in California often began before sunrise and continued past sunset to complete the full schedule. Here, a drone hovers at the 10-meter station-keeping waypoint as the sun sets in the background. The test stand at the Santa Cruz Facility had once been used for Agena upper stage rockets—a key piece of hardware used during the Gemini program in the 1960s. “We found a Gemini-era sticker on the door of the test bunker—likely from the time of Gemini VIII, the first space docking completed by Neil Armstrong and David Scott,” Barr said. “This really brought it home to me that we are simply part of the continuing story.”
Keith Barr operates a wind lidar during a live fire test in an AC-130 Gunship aircraft. He is seated next to an open door while flying at 18,000 feet over New Mexico in January 2017. Barr spent more than two decades working on WindTracer—a ground-based Doppler wind lidar system used to measure wind speed and turbulence at airports, wind farms, and in atmospheric research.
The transition from WindTracer to Orion presented new challenges. “Moving onto a space program has a steep learning curve, but I have found success in this new arena and I have learned that I can adapt and I shouldn’t be nervous about the unknown,” he said. “Learning new technologies, applications, and skills keeps my career fun and exciting and I look forward to the next giant leap—whatever it is.”
Keith Barr stands beside the Piper Cherokee 6 aircraft during his time as a captain for New England Airlines. Barr’s passion for flight moves in tandem with his pursuit of innovation. Over his career, he has flown over 1.6 million miles on commercial airlines. “I often joke that I’m on my fourth trip to the Moon and back—just in economy class,” he said.
Before specializing in lidar systems, Barr flew as a captain and assistant chief pilot at New England Airlines, operating small aircraft like the Piper Cherokee 6 and the Britten-Norman Islander.
He also worked at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, contributing to several NASA airborne missions aimed at unraveling the science behind global ozone depletion.
Keith Barr boards NASA’s DC-8 aircraft at Ames Research Center in California before heading to Salina, Kansas, to support a 1996 research mission studying how airplane emissions affect clouds and the atmosphere. As Barr reflects on his journey, he hopes to pass along a sense of legacy to the Artemis Generation. “We are in the process of writing the next chapter of human space exploration history, and our actions, successes, and troubles will be studied and analyzed well into the future,” he said. “We all need to consider how our actions will shape history.”
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