🌙 wren

absolutely!! i interned at nasa’s glenn research center for a few months in 2024, and i just happened to be there when the artemis 2 astronauts (minus victor) were visiting. before the event started, christina was walking around and meeting people, and i got to introduce myself to her and shake her hand!! the photographer actually got a picture of it, so i have that moment forever immortalized, and there’s also a picture of the big group of us with the astronauts :)

christina talked about how important for her it was to know and thank the people who were responsible for putting her in space and keeping her and her crew safe. they might be the ones everyone sees and remembers, but they could never do it without us. i was just an intern who wasn’t directly working on artemis, but listening to her, reid, and jeremy talk, i really felt like part of something so much bigger than myself, and i had the realization that everyone else is having now, which is that nasa couldn’t have picked better people for this mission. they made it so clear that this mission wasn’t just about them or nasa or the usa but about bringing the world together to do something amazing.

as for the orion capsule, there’s a facility called armstrong test facility (atf) about an hour away from glenn that i was able to tour twice, and we just happened to be there while they were doing testing on the capsule! the first time, it was just sitting on this stand in the middle of the room, and if i’d just reached out, i would’ve touched it (really wishing i did). the second time, it was in one of the acoustic test facilities, so i got to look up at it connected to all these cables and supports.