MILLINGTON, Tenn. — As many Americans watched NASA's Artemis II crew splash down in the Pacific Ocean following their historic flight around the moon, one Pendleton Heights High School grad was standing by to welcome them home.
Airman Apprentice Mackenzie Farley, a Muncie native, was among the sailors who supported the recovery of the Orion space capsule and the crew, according to a press release sent by the Navy on Wednesday.
The Pendleton Heights High School alumna serves the U.S. Navy assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, which airlifted the Artemis II crew back to USS John P. Murtha.
“My role was screening aircraft and support equipment to make sure it is safe for our pilots and aircrewmen to pick up the NASA crew safely and with no flaws,” Farley described her role in the release.
Farley, who joined the Navy last year, comes from a family of service members, including her father, grandfathers, uncles and extended family. She said the skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in her hometown of Muncie.
“In my hometown, I learned a lot more about what not to do and how to do things right,” Farley said in the release. “I learned from my family, as well as from Muncie, that it’s important to work hard and to be proud of my work.”
The four astronauts apart of the Artemis II mission splashed down just after 5 p.m. PDT on April 10 after their nearly 10-day flight around the moon— the first time in more than 50 years since humans traveled to deep space.
Navy sailors aboard the John P. Murtha awaited the splashdown in the Pacific Coast conducted the recovery, as well a provided NASA with imagery support from the MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters, tracking the Orion space capsule as it traveled through Earth’s atmosphere.
__
