When the Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific last month, one of our graduates was there to meet them! James Hanson, Class of 2020, was a part of the retrieval team tasked with recovering the Orion capsule and its crew after their historic trip around the moon! We caught up with James to get a look at the preparation required to pull off this mission and what it felt like to be exactly where he wanted to be.

Question: What were the key milestones in your career that led you to this role with the Artemis II recovery? 

Answer: For the past 18 months we have been training and working with NASA to have a safe and successful mission. When choosing to move to San Diego and picking my ship, I knew the Artemis II mission was on the horizon, which was a super good perk for me. The John P Murtha was my first choice when choosing a ship and the whole crew is incredible. 

Question: Can you describe the atmosphere on the recovery ship the moment you first saw the Orion capsule bobbing in the Pacific? 

Answer: We left port almost 5 days before splashdown, and the whole crew was super excited to be a part of such a historic mission. On the day of splashdown, we had done so much preparation and training that everyone was on their A-game. We had been briefed on the splashdown time and knew that once we heard the sonic boom of the capsule reentering the atmosphere, we would see the chutes deploy almost instantly. Everyone was completely silent until the capsule hit water, and once it was down safely it was such a cool experience to hear everyone cheering. 

Question: How many times did you practice this maneuver in simulators or test tanks before executing it for real in the open ocean? 

Answer: We had done at least 10 simulated recoveries as a bridge team, most of them at twilight or in complete darkness. Everyone involved had stood their watch-station for simulated recoveries multiple times. Almost two months beforehand, we did a real-life training capsule recovery that involved all-hands while securing the training capsule into the well deck. We utilized and tested the winch lines as well as the docking lines for the fake capsule. We also recovered the training capsule more than once, and at all times throughout the day for maximum redundancy. 

Question: Is there anything you feel is important to share about the mission itself or the work your team is doing? 

Answer: Honestly this was such a cool thing to be a part of and it seriously was an all-hands team evolution. Working with the NASA recovery team and seeing all of the hard work they put in was incredible to see and every single person onboard the small crafts as well as the main recovery LPD played such a huge role in the success of the mission. The pilots, divers, coxswains, and Murtha team executed flawlessly. 

Question: What is one piece of advice you would give the next generation of graduates looking to follow in your footsteps? 

Answer: The best piece of advice I can give is to chase what excites you and pursue meaningful opportunities that not only benefit yourself, but also the people around you. Keep working hard and apply yourself. I chose the path of a Surface Warfare Officer, but all military and civilian careers have cool and impactful pathways that create such good learning and growth opportunities. 

From the Class of 2020 to the front lines of space history—James Hanson is proof that the sky is definitely not the limit. Congratulations, James, to you and the entire crew of the USS John P. Murtha on a flawless recovery and a historic achievement!