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I Am Artemis: Kathleen Harmon
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Listen to this audio excerpt from Kathleen Harmon, the Artemis II Mission Interface Manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network:
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Captivated by Apollo launches on her television as a child, Kathleen Harmon now plays a key role in NASA’s Artemis program.
Harmon serves as the Artemis II mission interface manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network, an international array of giant radio antennas which are used to communicate with spacecraft. Managed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the Deep Space Network is the largest scientific telecommunications system in the world, supporting more than 40 missions exploring deep space. The network is also a key component of NASA’s Moon-bound Artemis missions.
“If you’re in a car and you’re going somewhere and you don’t have GPS or a cellphone, you might get lost, or you might not be able to tell someone that you’re lost,” said Harmon, illustrating how the Deep Space Network “talks” to spacecraft. “The network provides that lifeline to spacecraft across the solar system, and even interstellar space, so that they can talk to Earth and send back amazing science data, images, and videos from Mars rovers, space telescopes, orbiters, and more.”
In her role as a mission interface manager, and with her background as a systems engineer and decades of experience with NASA, Harmon prepares missions for launch and operations. This role requires careful coordination and collaboration across international partners, as the Deep Space Network’s radio antennas are spread around the world. She was responsible for ensuring the Deep Space Network was prepared to support the Artemis II spacecraft before launch.
You could not get any of that information back without the network. It’s a critical asset that also lets spacecraft know where they are.
Kathleen Harmon
Artemis II Mission Interface Manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network
“The network has three complexes equally spaced around the world so, as the Earth rotates, one is always in view to communicate with spacecraft wherever they are in the solar system,” said Harmon.
At any given moment, the Deep Space Network complex that is currently experiencing daylight is “in control” of the entire network to ensure consistent spacecraft connectivity, an operational approach the network team calls “follow the Sun.”
While the network supports NASA’s return to the Moon, working in partnership with the Near Space Network, it will continue to maintain a close watch on NASA’s fleet of spacecraft at the Moon and beyond.
“We supported Artemis II 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the entire mission with two antennas — a prime and a backup,” Harmon said. She added that while the network was supporting Artemis II, it also communicated with robotic rovers and spacecraft throughout the solar system.
While Harmon’s work has supported missions from Juno to Voyager, her contributions to the Artemis program remind her of what first inspired her to join to NASA.
“I was a very small child when the Apollo missions happened,” said Harmon. “Apollo was my earliest memory.”
Just thinking that I can be part of not only the Apollo generation but now also the Artemis generation — it’s very exciting to bridge that gap. This is a Golden Age of exploration.
Kathleen Harmon
Artemis II Mission Interface Manager for NASA’s Deep Space Network
