![\"Grace](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/grace-lauderdale.jpg\")
<\/p>\nListen to this audio excerpt from Grace Lauderdale, exploration project manager\u00a0for the\u00a0Training Systems Office at NASA Johnson:<\/p>\n
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In preparation for their mission around the Moon inside NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft, the Artemis II crew will spend countless hours training inside the Orion Mission Simulator. The simulator replicates what the crew will experience inside the spacecraft and allows the astronauts and flight controllers to rehearse every phase of the mission.<\/p>\n
As the exploration project manager for the Training Systems Office at Johnson, Grace Lauderdale leads the team that develops and operates the Orion Mission Simulator at NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston, playing a key role in making sure astronauts and flight control teams are ready for the first crewed mission of the Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Grace Lauderdale<\/p>\n
Exploration Project Manager\u00a0for the\u00a0Training Systems Office at NASA Johnson<\/p>\n
The simulator is more than a mock-up. It connects directly to Johnson\u2019s Mission Control Center, sending real-time data, audio, and video \u2014 just like the spacecraft will during flight. That means the flight control team trains in parallel, seeing and hearing exactly what they would throughout the mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of our major goals is to make the data they see on their displays look like the real vehicle,\u201d Lauderdale said. \u201cWe also simulate the near space and deep space networks, including all the communication delays. It\u2019s all about realism.\u201d<\/p>\n
That realism is powered by a complex software system developed in collaboration with partners like Lockheed Martin. Lauderdale\u2019s team works behind the scenes to ensure the simulator runs smoothly \u2014 writing code, troubleshooting issues, and even creating custom malfunctions to challenge the crew during training.<\/p>\n
To prepare astronauts for the unexpected, instructors work with Lauderdale\u2019s team to simulate problems that could occur during the mission, some of which require creative solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are times when the instructors will ask for malfunctions or capabilities that the sim doesn\u2019t automatically do,\u201d she said. \u201cPart of our role is to come up with ways to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her team plans, develops, and executes training scenarios in the Orion Mission Simulator across multiple Artemis missions, often simultaneously. \u201cCurrently, we\u2019re planning for future crewed missions, developing Artemis III, and executing Artemis II,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The work is demanding, but deeply personal, according to Lauderdale.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Grace Lauderdale<\/p>\n
Exploration Project Manager\u00a0for the\u00a0Training Systems Office at NASA Johnson<\/p>\n
That passion shows in her leadership. Her team often works nights, weekends, and holidays to ensure the simulator is ready. During a recent 30-hour simulation, they spent days preparing, fixing memory issues, and ensuring the system wouldn\u2019t crash. It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud of my team,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve put in countless hours of work to make sure this simulator reacts exactly as it would in the real mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Lauderdale, helping send astronauts around the Moon isn\u2019t just a job\u2014it\u2019s a dream realized.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing part of getting us back to the Moon is very personal to me,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud to be part of the team that will help get our astronauts there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this audio excerpt from Grace Lauderdale, exploration project manager\u00a0for the\u00a0Training Systems Office at NASA Johnson: Your…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6282,40762,111,139,69,16886,40763,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-198408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-artemis","9":"tag-i-am-artemis","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-orion-multi-purpose-crew-vehicle","14":"tag-orion-program","15":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}