Morehead State University has been selected by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation Program to support tracking of the Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission of the agency’s Artemis campaign.
MSU is one of eight education partners worldwide selected to participate in this effort, joining 34 organizations from around the world. The University will contribute tracking data from its 21-meter high-gain antenna, Deep Space Station 17, located at the Space Science Center.
In late 2025, NASA issued a call for volunteer ground stations to help support radio tracking for Artemis II as part of a broader effort to evaluate and expand deep-space communications and navigation capabilities. Based on its day-to-day experience supporting missions in cislunar space and the advanced capabilities of its facilities, Morehead State outlined its tracking assets, operational approach, and ability to support the mission. NASA subsequently selected MSU for participation and provided the technical details required to prepare for operations.
In addition to supporting NASA’s mission objectives, Artemis II tracking operations provide unique, hands-on opportunities for MSU students working at the Space Science Center.
“In this role, they help keep our systems operational, support real-time station operations, and participate directly in these mission phases,” Assistant Professor Dr. Andrea Togni said. “This experience is exceptionally valuable. I dare say few students in the world have the opportunity to operate a professional deep-space ground station, and even fewer gain exposure to tracking spacecraft in deep space, gaining experience that goes far beyond the typical low-Earth-orbit operations supported by most facilities.”
Artemis II will launch aboard NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and send the Orion spacecraft, with four astronauts on board, on a lunar flyby mission that will carry the crew around the Moon and safely back to Earth during an approximately 10-day journey. The mission marks the first time in more than 50 years that humans will travel this far from Earth and represents a critical milestone in NASA’s plan for sustained lunar exploration and future missions to Mars. By receiving Orion’s radio signals throughout the mission, the Morehead State University team will provide passive tracking data that helps determine the spacecraft’s position and motion in space, supporting navigation efforts and helping NASA evaluate and strengthen its deep-space communications and navigation capabilities.
Once operations begin, the MSU team will compute Orion’s predicted position, plan precise antenna pointing, tune and record radio signals, process raw data, and extract navigation-relevant measurements for delivery to NASA. This work builds on the Space Science Center’s previous involvement in Artemis I, including support for the Lunar IceCube mission. It draws on multidisciplinary expertise in mechanical engineering, electronics, radio-frequency systems, and radio science. Tracking a spacecraft traveling more than 2,000 miles per hour at distances exceeding 254,000 miles requires highly sensitive equipment and advanced flight dynamics analysis.
These contributions help produce navigation solutions that are more accurate, resilient, and reliable, supporting the safe return of astronauts and advancing the future of human exploration beyond Earth.
For more information, contact Space Science Center Executive Director Dr. Benjamin Malphrus at b.malphrus@moreheadstate.edu or 606-783-2212.
You can also contact the MSU Space Science Center at ssc@moreheadstate.edu or 606-783-2224.