I Am Artemis: Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman

Listen to this audio clip from Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman, Orion Mission Evaluation Room managers for the Artemis II mission:

During NASA’s Artemis II mission, Jen Madsen and Trey Perryman will lead a team monitoring the Orion spacecraft as it carries four astronauts around the Moon. The team works in the Orion Mission Evaluation Room where they will monitor and analyze Orion’s systems and performance in real time to ensure crew safety and mission success.

As leaders of the Orion Mission Evaluation Room located inside the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Madsen and Perryman are responsible for ensuring that the dozens of expert engineers from NASA, Lockheed Martin, ESA (European Space Agency) and Airbus who staff the room’s consoles are ready for Artemis II.

Trey Perryman

Responsible for Orion mission and systems integration

The flight control team operating Orion from Mission Control’s white flight control room will rely on crucial findings from the Mission Evaluation Room to help manage unexpected spacecraft behaviors that may arise and help analyze Orion performance data during the mission.

With the crew aboard Orion, Artemis II brings new challenges, new opportunities, and a new mission control space for Orion’s Mission Evaluation Room. More spacecraft systems will be put through their paces, requiring more evaluation room expertise and new consoles to monitor systems that had not yet flown, such as life support systems.

“There’s a lot of excitement — for the new capabilities, the mission and having a wonderful new space to operate in,” Perryman said.

In addition to leading the mission evaluation room, Perryman is also responsible for Orion’s mission and systems integration, and Madsen is Orion’s deputy director of avionics, power and software. Their co-leadership styles complement each other: Perryman leads with energy and teamwork, while Madsen provides stability and structure.

“We balance each other out,” Madsen said. “And that balance is reflected in our team.”

For Perryman, a former flight controller with experience in space shuttle and space station operations, MER represents the culmination of a personal career in human spaceflight.

“I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now,” Perryman said. “My wife and I have four boys, and my boys are very excited about Artemis…it’s important to me. And they love seeing a father who is really connected to this mission.”

Madsen began his career at NASA in engineering, designing and simulating Orion’s guidance, navigation and control systems early in the program.

Jen Madsen

Orion Deputy Director of Avionics, Power and Software

For the two leaders, the Artemis II mission is more than technical. With the crew flying in the spaceship, it’s deeply human.

“I feel an added sense of importance and care to what we do in this building,” Perryman said, “making sure – especially in the Orion MER – that we understand how the vehicle supports the crew, because it is so important to get them home safely.”

“We all feel like Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy are part of the Orion family,” Madsen said. “When we discuss risks, from design through operations, we think of our friends aboard the spacecraft.”