Scott Wray\u2019s experience with spacewalks started when he was about 6 years old. A tent resembling a lunar lander provided the perfect imaginary spacecraft. \u201cI would lie on my back with my feet propped up on a pillow as I imagined going through a launch countdown sequence,\u201d he said. \u201cThen I would exit the tent into a darkened bedroom and hop around just like the footage I had seen of Apollo astronauts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, with more than 16 years at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center under his belt, Wray is proud to have shaped spacewalk training across three eras of human spaceflight.<\/p>\n
The childhood fascination with spaceflight evolved into a passion for engineering, demonstrated through countless LEGO and airplane model builds and voracious readership of aircraft design books. His path to NASA was cemented by a week-long camp at Space Center Houston, which included several tours of Johnson\u2019s signature facilities and a visit by former NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz. \u201cI was so inspired by the facilities and the incredible history of this place, I knew that I had to work here someday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wray participated in NASA\u2019s Contractor Co-op Program with United Space Alliance while studying aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and completed several tours with different organizations at Johnson. At the time, astronauts were training to conduct spacewalks, also known as EVAs, for both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. During one co-op experience with the shuttle\u2019s In-Flight Maintenance Team (IFM), Wray observed the IFM and EVA teams collaborating with the STS-117 crew to fix the peeled-back thermal blanket on space shuttle Atlantis\u2019s Orbital Maneuvering System pod. He helped the teams develop crew procedures for practicing the repair inside the shuttle, using surgical staples and pins to tack the blanket down. \u201cThis real-time troubleshooting is where I learned about the EVA group and set my sights on working there during my final co-op tour,\u201d he said. \u201cI love to be hands-on, to take things apart and come up with creative solutions \u2013 that\u2019s what really attracted me to EVA.\u201d<\/p>\n
EVA work also reminded Wray of time spent as a dog mushing guide in Alaska. \u201cThat is where I got my first taste of expeditionary skills,\u201d he said. \u201cWe lived in a remote glacier camp, taking care of 250 Alaskan Huskies. I learned how to make do with the tools you have and make repairs to a broken sled miles away from home.\u201d At times, Johnson\u2019s EVA team must create similar workarounds. \u201cSome of our best moments as a team have come when our hardware or vehicle has malfunctioned, requiring us to devise a real-time solution,\u201d he said. \u201cIt sounds scrappy, but I think it\u2019s how we put the human into human spaceflight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wray became a full-time EVA team member at Johnson after graduation, working under various contracts until he transitioned to a civil servant position in 2021. He started as an EVA instructor focused on tools and hardware and teaching astronauts how to perform their maintenance and repair duties. As NASA\u2019s astronaut corps evolved to include a wider range of backgrounds and body types, Wray worked to develop new EVA techniques and tools that could accommodate any crew member. \u201cThat meant creating a curriculum that capitalized on individual strengths while building teamwork and resilience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Wray also served as a flight controller for shuttle and space station EVAs. He remembers being on console in Johnson\u2019s Mission Control Center during a space station EVA in July 2013. That excursion was terminated early after water began filling the spacesuit helmet of ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Luca Parmitano, and the team could neither determine its source nor stop its flow. \u201cThat incident taught me that even after decades of operating a spacesuit, there are still failure modes we haven\u2019t imagined,\u201d he said. \u201cIt reinforced the need for vigilance, adaptability, and continuous learning\u2014because in human spaceflight, lives depend on it.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the last few years, Wray\u2019s responsibilities shifted to preparing Artemis crew members for missions to the Moon. Now the Artemis EVA training lead, Wray oversees the development of training flows that will ready astronauts for lunar surface operations \u2013 a challenge NASA has not faced in over 50 years.<\/p>\n
While many astronauts have completed space station training or an EVA, the skills required for lunar exploration will be different. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a completely new spacesuit, new vehicles, new environment,\u201d Wray said. \u201cAnd now they\u2019re going to be walking instead of translating with their hands like we do on station.\u201d At the same time, trainings must go beyond these foundational spacewalk techniques. \u201cOur curriculum integrates geology, covering topics like impact cratering, volcanology, sample collection, and traverse planning,\u201d Wray explained. \u201cIt\u2019s about enabling astronauts to become effective field scientists while mastering complex EVA operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
To build these skills, the team uses multiple training environments. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory has been NASA\u2019s flagship EVA training facility since it opened in 1997, but the team also uses the Active Response Gravity Offload System for suited mobility practice. Additional training systems include virtual reality, lighting laboratories that simulate the Moon\u2019s harsh South Pole lighting conditions, field sites for geology training and sample collection, and suit simulators that prepare astronauts to respond to caution-and-warning scenarios. <\/p>\n
\u201cSpearheading this effort as EVA training lead allows me to ensure every element\u2014from science to operations\u2014is integrated into a program that will prepare astronauts for success on the Moon and beyond,\u201d Wray said. \u201cThis effort is more than preparation, it\u2019s the foundation for future exploration and a steppingstone toward Mars. Knowing that our work will help shape the next era of human spaceflight is incredibly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amid these complex preparations, Wray still finds time for new pursuits outside of the office. His daughter inspired him and his wife to try an acting class at a local fine arts studio, leading to Wray\u2019s on-stage debut in a performance of \u201cRock of Ages.\u201d He starred as William Shakespeare in this year\u2019s production of \u201cSomething Rotten.\u201d \u201cI never would have thought I\u2019d have so much fun acting, singing, and dancing on stage,\u201d he said. \u201cThe community we are part of and the ability to join our daughter in activities she enjoys has been so rewarding.\u201d <\/p>\n
Wray said he is incredibly grateful to play another role off-stage \u2013 being part of missions that will conduct meaningful science on the lunar surface. \u201cReturning to the Moon is something I\u2019ve dreamed about since I was a kid,\u201d he said. \u201cArtemis isn\u2019t just about going back\u2014it\u2019s about shaping the future. When we choose to push the boundaries of exploration, the advancements we make don\u2019t just expand knowledge, they create lasting benefits for all of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scott Wray\u2019s experience with spacewalks started when he was about 6 years old. A tent resembling a lunar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[2305,1437,61,60,1660,20196,82,247],"class_list":["post-480271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-artemis","tag-general","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-johnson-space-center","tag-people-of-johnson","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}