I Am Artemis: Paul Boehm
Listen to this audio clip from Paul Boehm, Orion’s Crew Support and Thermal Systems functional area manager:
As the Artemis II astronauts fly around the Moon, they will rely on the systems inside the Orion spacecraft to live, work and stay safe during their mission. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Paul Boehm, functional area manager for crew support and thermal systems in the Orion Crew and Service Modules Office, is leading this work.
Boehm oversees the life support systems, flight equipment and Orion Crew Survival System suits worn during launch and reentry. Developed, designed and built by Boehm’s team, these systems are expected to fly for the first time with a crew aboard Orion on Artemis II.
Supporting the crew in the harsh environment of deep space is no simple task, especially when dealing with a complex system such as the Environmental Control and Survival System (ECLSS).
Paul Bohm
Orion Crew Support and Thermal Systems Functional Area Manager
Developing these systems for Orion space missions to the Moon poses special challenges, such as the mass and volume requirements encountered when launching heavy spacecraft, and the need for systems to operate reliably without resupply.
“Orion’s ECLSS is unique for Artemis missions because we’re going into deep space,” Boehm said. “It’s a much longer trip that you can’t come back from quickly, like a mission to the International Space Station, which is only a few hours away. That’s why we’re trying to make a lot of the life support systems regenerative, so you don’t have to carry a lot of consumables, and we’re also trying to make them simpler.”
The system also needs hardware to handle a range of variables that may arise during the mission, according to Boehm.
“You’re dealing with fluids, you’re dealing with electrical, electronic and electromechanical components – and you’re also dealing with the human variable of different metabolic situations. Everyone is different. ECLSS takes all of that into account.”
It’s a challenge Boehm welcomes and has embraced throughout his NASA career. Since starting at NASA Johnson 37 years ago, he has worked in disciplines that work directly with crew members, including astronaut office support, extravehicular activities for the Space Shuttle and Space Station, and the Orion program since 2011.
Paul Bohm
Orion Crew Support and Thermal Systems Functional Area Manager
“And so when I had the opportunity to work on Orion, ECLSS and crew systems, I said that’s where I want to go, because that way I’ll always be able to help and be directly involved in supporting the crew,” Boehm said. “I really enjoyed that.”
As NASA prepares to send crew members around the Moon aboard Artemis II, seeing Orion and its systems transport the crew will be a marker of a career that has helped advance the future of human spaceflight.
“I think that’s why everyone here is working on this mission: we know it’s for the good of humanity,” Boehm said. “Moving forward for the next generation is something we all take to heart, and that’s what we’re really trying to do here. We’re taking the first step toward making history by sending the crew back to the Moon.”
