I Am Artemis: Erik Richards
Listen to this audio clip from Erik Richards, Near Space Network mission manager:
For Erik Richards, supporting NASA’s first crewed Artemis mission to the Moon and back is the culmination of a career spent helping spacecraft communicate with Earth.
Like many children who grew up during the height of the space shuttle program, Richards dreamed of flying in space — a dream that eventually took him from the isolated McMurdo Station in Antarctica to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Eric Richards
NASA Near Space Network Mission Leader
Most recently, his work took him to the agency’s White Sands complex in New Mexico – and to play a key role in getting America back to the Moon. As mission manager for NASA’s Near Space Network, Richards ensures that the Artemis II crew and Orion spacecraft can communicate with Earth during liftoff and early orbit, through reentry and splashdown.
The Near Space Network consists of an interconnected network of relay satellites and more than 40 government and commercial ground stations stretching from Bermuda to South Africa. Along with NASA’s Deep Space Network, this global infrastructure is essential to keeping the Orion spacecraft and its four astronauts connected to Mission Control throughout their approximately 10-day mission.
It’s Richards’ job to synchronize the many elements of the near space network over the course of multiple missions. He compares the system to a telephone network on Earth: invisible when everything works, critical when it doesn’t. Without communication, there is no contact with home.
Working with the Deep Space Network, Artemis II will rely on the Near Space Network for navigation, real-time voice communications, data transfer and situational awareness. For Richards and the teams that support NASA’s networks, having a crew on board makes their work more essential than ever.
Richards’ professional journey through the Near Space Network was essential in coordinating communications between Artemis’ three flight segments, dozens of ground stations, and hundreds of people supporting humanity’s return to the Moon.
Eric Richards
NASA Near Space Network Mission Leader
In the months leading up to launch, Richards supported extensive testing, requirements development, and preparation operations to prepare the network. During the mission, he will be on console, monitoring the data flow and coordinating support within NASA and its partner sites around the world.
Richards and his team’s support for Artemis II will help achieve Artemis III and NASA’s goal of a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. For Richards, being part of this progression – from the shuttle to the Moon and eventually Mars – connects him to his childhood love of spaceflight.
“The most exciting part of the Artemis campaign is being part of something bigger,” Richards said. “You don’t have to be an astronaut to contribute to the future of human exploration.”
