{"id":12531,"date":"2026-06-30T10:41:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=12531"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:41:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T14:41:27","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-artemis-ii-with-a-georgia-southern-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2026\/06\/30\/behind-the-scenes-of-artemis-ii-with-a-georgia-southern-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes of Artemis II with a Georgia Southern Graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The astronauts had just made their final speeches. As they began to head to the crew transport that would take them to the Artemis II spacecraft, cryogenic propulsion software engineer Auston Netcher (\u201821) put on his headset and settled into his workstation in the control room at Cape Canaveral, Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past few days in the Amentum engineering office had been busy. He and his team spent more than two years building the software programs that would control the combustion process and send Artemis II into space for its 10-day journey. Now, it was time to see if all that work would pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe test constantly to make sure everything is working properly,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut on launch day, the energy in the firing room is intense. There\u2019s no more trial and error.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Netcher\u2019s eyes scanned the three large screens at his station as he did a final check to ensure everything was running smoothly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe meet the astronauts before they go up,\u201d Netcher said. \u201cThese people\u2019s lives were literally in our hands. So I had to make sure that everything on my end was running perfectly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ground began to shake. The whole building rattled as the thrusters shot to life and the rocket began its gradual ascent. As cheers filled the air, Netcher sat back in disbelief, shocked that a hiring event at a hotel in Florida had brought him to the Artemis II launchpad.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy first job out of college was designing and building solar fields,\u201d said Netcher, who received his bachelor\u2019s in mechanical engineering from Georgia Southern University. \u201cBut then the company went through a massive round of layoffs. So I started applying to hundreds of jobs. My mom saw a posting about a career fair and pushed me to go to it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew he\u2019d made the right decision to attend when he met the man who would soon become his manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t care about my last job,\u201d said Netcher. \u201cHe just said, \u2018tell me about some of the stuff you worked on in college.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Southern gave him plenty to talk about.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe talked about my experiences with 3D modeling, things like SolidWorks and AutoCAD,\u201d he said. \u201cHis eyes lit up when we were talking about my senior project, and he said, \u2018This is him. This is who we need.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years later, Netcher was walking back from the firing room to his car at 4 a.m. after the 18-hour shift. He opened his car door and looked through the twilight of the early morning dawn towards the sky ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artemis II was hurtling around the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour. He thought about the four people aboard. They were carrying the hopes and dreams of a new generation, excited about space travel. His work helped put them there.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI only ever expected to work a desk job at some firm,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not done learning about myself. I think my time at Georgia Southern taught me how to be flexible and adapt. That\u2019s what brought me here, and it\u2019s more than paid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Bradley Mullis\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The astronauts had just made their final speeches. As they began to head to the crew transport that would take them to the Artemis II spacecraft, cryogenic propulsion software engineer Auston Netcher (\u201821) put on his headset and settled into his workstation in the control room at Cape Canaveral, Florida.\u00a0 The past few days in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":12532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[91,92],"class_list":["post-12531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-fall-2025","tag-spring-2026"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t