RIT alumni practice Artemis II astronauts in images

The 4 astronauts on NASA’s Artemis II mission that launched April 1 are effectively geared up to doc their journey across the moon due to coaching from RIT alumni.

Katrina Willoughby ’04 and Paul Reichert ’01—graduates of RIT’s imaging and photographic expertise program, now often called photographic sciences—are flight operations imagery instructors who gave the astronauts coaching in images strategies on the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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NASA picture supplied by Katrina Willoughby

Katrina Willoughby ‘04, heart, poses for a photograph with the complete Artemis II crew in entrance of a mock-up of the Orion spacecraft used for images coaching.

“Most people can use a camera and get a photo that is good enough, but good enough isn’t what we’re after scientifically. We’re really teaching the astronauts how to go beyond the basics,” stated Willoughby. “Being able to understand how to use the equipment, and what the options are, gives us a lot more capability.”

The historic mission—carried out by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will final roughly 10 days. During this time, Willoughby and Reichert will likely be on name as the first assist representatives for his or her imaging sub-group of the mission.

Imagery has turn out to be a crucial factor of any mission, in accordance with Willoughby and Reichert. Second probabilities on house missions are few and much between if a photograph isn’t captured as deliberate, which is why giving astronauts as a lot imaging coaching as attainable earlier than launch is vital.

“There are pictures we want to get, and then there are pictures that the team is depending on. The imagery is their data,” stated Willoughby. “If something breaks, for example, we need a picture or video to show us on the ground what’s going on. Sometimes, the imagery is what is needed to move forward, so it is important that the crew can get it right the first time.”

To ensure that the astronauts had been absolutely ready, Willoughby and Reichert labored with the crew members for roughly two years. The pair designed a sequence of lessons and coaching modules that allowed the crew to get hands-on experiences with the complicated images tools that emulate situations in house.

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NASA picture supplied by Katrina Willoughby

Willoughby and Reichert designed coaching modules that try and emulate the life like environmental situations of photographing in house. Here, within the shadows, Willoughby, proper, handles a digital camera throughout early simulations of the surroundings for lunar EVAs, which had been performed at night time.

“We have mock-ups of the different vehicles so the crew can practice using the cameras in a flight-like environment. For training, we’ll give them a problem or request for a certain kind of photo, and then we let them work through how they’re going to accomplish the task,” stated Reichert. “In the end, when they’re on their space mission, we can’t be there with them, so they need to feel confident that they can figure some of this stuff out on their own.”

Both Willoughby and Reichert discovered their technique to NASA by alumni and college connections. When NASA was seeking to rent extra imaging specialists within the early 2000s, an alumnus who labored on the company pointed recruiters to former RIT professor Andrew Davidhazy, who shared the posting along with his college students.

The pair credit Davidhazy for not solely sharing the chance, however for getting ready them with the crucial considering abilities required for his or her job.

The two have educated practically each astronaut—nationally and internationally—that has been energetic prior to now 25 years.

Reichert stated that together with the scientific developments made attainable by the imagery, the images from this mission will encourage the subsequent technology of innovators.

“For the Artemis II mission, there are four people on that vehicle going around the moon, and there are eight billion of us on the ground that don’t get to go on that ride. Through the pictures they get, they’re taking the rest of the world on the ride with them,” he stated. “Maybe a kid sees these images and is inspired to go into the field when they grow up, or an engineer sees imagery of our equipment and thinks, ‘I can fix that or make it better.’”

Turning astronauts into photographers

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NASA/Reid Wiseman

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this image of Earth from the Orion spacecraft’s window on April 2, 2026, after finishing the translunar injection burn.

Paul Reichert defined that the majority astronauts have little or no images expertise, which makes their coaching essential. The pair teaches the astronauts the way to function commercially accessible expertise, in addition to extremely specialised cameras and customized {hardware}.

The sequence of coaching programs designed by Reichert and Katrina Willoughby present a mixture of classroom studying and hands-on observe within the area or in mock-ups. At the Johnson Space Center, there’s a mock-up of a number of totally different automobiles, together with the Orion spacecraft, the place astronauts can get expertise with the spatial and lighting challenges that will likely be current through the precise mission.