Moon Daily: UC grad manages NASA space station project

University of Cincinnati graduate Melissa McGuire is helping to manage NASA's new space station project called Lunar Gateway that will orbit the moon.

Moon Daily profiled McGuire, who works as the mission design manager for Gateway's Power and Propulsion Element. She works at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

McGuire earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science. Previously, she studied engineering physics.

"I am extremely excited to be a part of the next great adventure of human exploration in space," McGuire told Moon Daily.

According to NASA, Lunar Gateway will have living quarters and labs for scientists to conduct research on the surface of the moon. It will take astronauts about five days to travel 250,000 miles to the new station from Earth.

Gateway will be far smaller than the International Space Station at about the size of a studio apartment. It will be designed for missions lasting about three months.

The first components are scheduled for launch in 2022.

Read more about Lunar Gateway.

Featured image at top: Melissa McGuire gives a talk in 2019 about the Lunar Gateway project. Photo/NASA Glenn Research Center