Sian Cleaver is a firmly committed engineer at Airbus in Germany. At the same time, David Morris is the chief engineer for space imaging at Teledyne e2v in Chelmsford. Now, together, they’re preparing to assume those pivotal roles in NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission. This pioneering mission is scheduled for launch later this week. The mission, called Artemis II, will send four astronauts on a ten-day journey around the Moon, the closest any humans have been to the lunar surface since 1972.
Cleaver is based in Chelmsford. Together with her team, she developed the Orion crew capsule’s propulsion system, which will carry astronauts on this historic lunar mission. Cleaver expressed her enthusiasm about her work, stating, “I always wanted to work in the space industry and now I am doing that on a human space flight mission, which for me is a dream come true.”
The highly anticipated Artemis II mission will be a historic step for crewed space exploration. Moreover, it sets the stage for the future crewed missions to Mars. The spacecraft’s European Service Module, which includes large solar arrays constructed by Cleaver’s team in Bremen, will play a critical role in supporting the astronauts on their journey.
Morris has spent his career designing and building cutting-edge imaging equipment that allow humans to venture further and further into deep space. He understands the importance of this first mission. At 65 years old, he looks forward to experiencing the excitement of a new moon landing with a fresh group of individuals. So to get to feel that with a whole new batch of people on this Earth I think is going to be really special. It’s a bit more than just the first step on our journey to Mars,” he said.
Morris underscored the historical relevance of the exploration of the moon. He really drove home the idea that Artemis II has the capability to spark a new global interest in space. When you think back to what took place in 1969 and the transformational nature of seeing human beings on the surface of the Moon, I’d like to think that sort of global excitement can occur when we see him or her do it again. It will galvanize the planet to adopt what it really means to be ‘one world’ and not just a series of fragmented countries.
The world is excitedly counting down the days until the Artemis II launch. Cleaver and Morris are part of a younger generation of engineers and scientists who are determined to help continue humanity’s expansion into space. Cleaver emphasized the importance of this moment for younger generations who may not have witnessed a moon landing firsthand: “There are a couple of generations who haven’t lived through a moon landing; it’s almost becoming ancient history in a way.”