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Matthew Ramsey is keenly aware of the responsibility he shoulders to ensure the agency\u2019s missions to the Moon are safe and successful. As the mission manager for Artemis II, NASA\u2019s first crewed mission under Artemis, Ramsey is charged with helping to define the requirements and priorities for the missions and certifying that the hardware and operations needed to support flight are ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s all about the crew and ensuring their safety as they venture to the Moon and come home,\u201d said Ramsey. \u201cSending people thousands of miles from home and doing it in a way that sets the stage for long-term exploration and scientific discovery is an incredibly complex task.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the leadup to Artemis II, Ramsey is responsible for oversight of the daily preparations as NASA prepares to launch and fly the agency\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with a crew of four inside the Orion spacecraft. He will adjudicate issues that arise in the weeks and months ahead of the flight test and serve as deputy of the Mission Management Team \u2014 a tiger team that forms two days before launch to accept the risks associated with the mission and make decisions during the flight to address any changes or concerns.<\/p>\n
A native of Hernando, Mississippi, Ramsey pitched for the Mississippi State University baseball team before earning bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in aerospace engineering from the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of similarities between mission management and pitching,\u201d he said. \u201cYou control many aspects of the tempo, and there\u2019s a lot of weight on your shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramsey began his career in the intelligence and defense sectors before joining the space agency in 2002 to work on guidance, navigation, and control for the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle. Later, he worked on the design of the Ares I and V rockets as part of NASA\u2019s Constellation Program before transitioning in 2010 to the SLS Program in support of the chief engineer at the agency\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.<\/p>\n
During the Artemis I launch, Ramsey was the SLS Engineering Support Center manager at Marshall, coordinating across engineering teams to provide data and solutions to issues encountered during the multiple launch attempts. He then supported the Mission Management Team during Artemis I in an observational role, preparing for his position as Artemis II mission manager.<\/p>\n
While NASA and its partners are preparing for Artemis II, work toward other Artemis missions is also underway. Ramsey also will serve as the mission manager for Artemis IV, the first Gateway assembly mission that also will include a lunar landing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Artemis II on the horizon, most of my time is focused on making sure we\u2019re ready to fly Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy around the Moon and bring them safely home,\u201d Ramsey said. \u201cFor Artemis IV, we\u2019re in the mission concept-planning phase, establishing mission priorities and objectives and defining how we\u2019ll transfer crew between all the hardware elements involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Artemis II nears, Ramsey is blending his operational experience and expertise in design, development, testing, and evaluation so that NASA is primed for what lies ahead: sending humans back to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years and laying the foundation for future missions that will ultimately enable human exploration of Mars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n