KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida — As Artimes II now makes its historic flight around the moon, a local man is front row from Mission Control.
Michael Pippen is from Hillsboro, TN and an engineering graduate of Tennessee Tech.
The four astronauts may be the focus of this Artemis II launch, but we all know it takes an army of experts at NASA to get them to the moon and back.
Pippen is on that job right now as part of NASA's Artemis II team and was there in mission control for the historic launch.
"During the final moments of the launch there's a lot of emotions. Once we started counting down to T-minus 10, the room got silent...everyone dialing in on their screens and looking at data," said Pippen.
He spent the past ten years preparing for the moment. After graduating for Tennessee Tech, he applied on a lark to an AD and found himself working in the space program.
"No, Nick, I didn't really dream about this when I was a kid living in TN," he said. "Didn't hear much about it, but went to Tech to be an engineer."
But now Pippen is thrilled to be involved with the next step in space exploration. He's part of the team making sure the mission is a success.
"There is a crew and you are just trying to keep them safe," he added. "Any problem you want to identify as quickly as possible."
The good news?
Halfway throught the mission -- so far so good.
And with that Pippen is going to have to buy himself a new tie ...
"NASA has tie cutting tradition where after your first ever successful launch or a launch in a new position the launch commander will come around and cut your tie," said Pippen. "This is really a badge of honor."
Pippen says his work doesn't end with this mission.
He will also be involved as NASA works toward the next step of perhaps colonizing the moon.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Nick.beres@newschannel5.com
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