AEGIS Ensures Artemis I Mission Success
Artemis I splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11 after completing a successful 1.4-million-mile flight test, lasting 25.5 days, around the moon and back. Civil’s Advanced Enterprise Global Information Technology Solutions (AEGIS) team ensured mission success for Artemis I at every step and across multiple centers, from launch to flight to return to Earth.
At Kennedy Space Center (KSC), AEGIS began supporting Artemis a week ahead of the launch with operator support for critical Video Teleconferencing Service (ViTS) briefings for weather, launch decisions, and post-launch activities continuing until splashdown. The AEGIS network team at KSC deployed additional wireless coverage in the press site area for media and VIPs three days prior to launch. The AEGIS phone team at KSC worked on the mobile launcher (the structure Artemis launches from) 24 hours prior to launch to secure all phones from the ground up to the 250-foot level with additional steel strapping to ensure the blast from the launch would not damage the phones.
At the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), AEGIS supported Artemis launch activities for 14 hours, from call to stations until an hour after launch. The Internet Voice Distribution System (IVoDS) operated by AEGIS at the HOSC allows communication with the International Space Station, enabling 327 IVoDS users for Artemis with no issues.
At the NASA Communications (NASCOM) Operations Management Center at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the AEGIS mission operations team supported Artemis on-console with communications, engineering, and security support for 23.75 hours, including support from 11 hours prior to launch and through launch, early orbit, and lunar outbound trajectory correction burn.
AEGIS’ Enterprise Video Content Delivery Network (EVCDN) live streams hosted peak viewership of 959,000 and more than eight million views across NASA flagship channels for the launch (including NASA TV, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Twitch). This was the result of a team effort between the EVCDN team and the NASA Imagery Experts Program (NIEP), now part of AEGIS.
NIEP enabled the inaugural NASA broadcast in 4K ultra high definition (UHD) video of the launch. The launch of Artemis I was the #2 trending video on YouTube the week of Nov. 17.
During the Artemis I mission, AEGIS teams provided a 24/7 live feed of views from the Orion spacecraft on YouTube reaching 859,000 viewers. Live video of the mission was also transmitted to the NASA Headquarters Science Operations Center, the Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center, and NASA TV hosts as they led live broadcasts. The captioning service for the video feeds was also provided by AEGIS.
Finally, AEGIS teams delivered live 4K UHD video of splashdown from multiple cameras placed on nonstationary locations—on board the USS Portland Navy vessel that recovered the Orion spacecraft, on a NASA WB-57 aircraft flying at 50,000 feet above the recovery zone, and on a NASA PA-30 aircraft flying between 15,000 to 20,000 feet above the recovery zone.
As seen by the successful Artemis launch, the AEGIS team continues to be a trusted, accountable partner for mission-critical operations at NASA.
