University of New Hampshire Alumnus is Leading Work on the Orion Spacecraft

Lee Morin is a former astronaut that flew on a 2002 shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Originally from New Hampshire, Morin received his bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. At 66, Morin is now leading work on NASA’s Orion Spacecraft.

Orion is scheduled to land on the moon in 2024, with the plan of returning man and landing the first women on the lunar surface. Morin describes the new cockpit design for Orion, noting how previous craft included three computer screens and 2,000 buttons, switches, dials and knobs as well as 250 pounds of checklist books. The new Orion design includes only one reboot book and seven panels with fewer than 100 buttons.

NASA has named the upcoming moon missions Artemis, the first of which is an unmanned flight around the moon planned for 2022. Morin is optimistic that the U.S. will not only make this ambitious deadline, but is well positioned to reach the 2024 deadline of landing man and woman on the moon.

Read the full article from New Hampshire Union Leader here.