One of the U.S. Navy Sailors tasked with retrieving the Artemis II astronauts from the Pacific Ocean on Friday is a northern Michigan native.
Steve Kapala is a 1st class hospital corpsman from Alpena. He's been practicing dive medicine since 2018 and will be one of the people performing the initial medical checks on the four astronauts after they splash down off the coast of San Diego.
Kapala said in a news release that he never thought he'd play a part in this type of mission, noting his love of sci-fi novels growing up.
“It is surreal to play a part in safely recovering the astronauts from the capsule to get them home safe to their families," Kapala said. "An effort that really makes you realize this team [the medical unit] is bigger than just the four of us.”
Kapala will be joined by Lt. Commander Jesse Wang, Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Laddy Aldridge, and Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link.
The team will be the ones opening the capsule and assisting the Artemis crew before providing any potential care. A release from the Navy says the team has been training for this mission for years with specialized courses.
The Artemis II crew has been in space since April 1, manning the first lunar flyby since the Apollo 17 mission in December of 1972.
It is the first time NASA has sent someone to space since the July 2011 STS-135 space shuttle launch. The launch was the final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.
Artemis II is scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere Friday evening, with an estimated splashdown time of 8:07 p.m. EDT.
It will be available to view on the free NASA+ streaming service and YouTube.
