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Significant events in history keep finding Mat Bevill. As the associate chief engineer for NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) Program, Bevill assists the program chief engineer by interfacing with each of the element chief engineers and helping make critical decisions for the development and flight of the SLS mega rocket that will power NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign. With the launch of Artemis II, the first crewed test flight of SLS and the Orion spacecraft, Bevill\u2019s technical leadership and support for the SLS Chief Engineer\u2019s Office will place him, once again, at a notable moment in time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of me as the assistant coach. While the head coach is on the front line leading the team, I\u2019m on the sidelines providing feedback and advising those efforts,\u201d said Bevill. As a jack-of-all-trades, he enables progress in any way that he can, something he\u2019s familiar with after 37 years with NASA. And, on Nov. 16, 2022, as the SLS rocket roared to life for the first time with the Artemis I test flight, Bevill couldn\u2019t help but reflect on a lifetime of experiences and lessons that led to that moment.<\/p>\n
Bevill began his NASA career while he was still attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. During his sophomore year as a mechanical engineer student, he applied for the agency\u2019s internship program at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.<\/p>\n
Just a few months before Bevill began his journey with NASA, the Challenger<\/em> accident occurred, taking the lives of all seven crewmembers in January 1986. Bevill joined the Solid Motor Branch at Marshall as teams across the agency worked to understand the cause of the accident. It was a fast-paced environment, and Bevill had to learn quickly about the solid rocket boosters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a surreal experience, but I was privileged to work with those people. We were figuring out tough lessons together and working toward a common goal,\u201d Bevill recalls.<\/p>\n Those tough lessons provided Bevill with tremendous hands-on experience related to the solid rocket booster hardware that would not only shape his career, but, later, the SLS rocket. The five-segment solid rocket boosters that provide more than 75% of thrust for SLS to go to the Moon are based on the same four-segment design that powered 135 shuttle missions to low Earth orbit. His experience from his time with the shuttle led him to deputy chief engineer for the SLS Boosters Office.<\/p>\n Just as for Artemis I, Bevill will be standing by and serving as the \u201cassistant coach\u201d for Artemis II as the SLS rocket, once again, takes flight and sends the first crewed Artemis mission around the Moon. \u201cSLS has been the crowning jewel of my career, and I consider myself blessed to be a part of NASA\u2019s history,\u201d Bevill said.<\/p>\n SLS is part of NASA\u2019s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n