![\"Erick](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/maf-20230726-iaa-holsonback01.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/figure>Whether he\u2019s advising student robotic competitions or managing production of a powerful, new Moon rocket stage, Erick Holsonback meets technical challenges with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
Holsonback, a Jacobs Technology employee, is subsystem manager for production and launch operations of the exploration upper stage<\/a> (EUS) for NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System)<\/a> rocket. SLS is NASA\u2019s super heavy lift rocket that will launch the agency\u2019s Artemis campaign<\/a> to the Moon. The exploration upper stage is one of two upgrades to the SLS rocket as it evolves to the Block 1B variant for missions beginning with Artemis IV. Along with the rocket\u2019s new universal stage adapter, the SLS rocket in its Block 1B configuration will be able to send 40% more payload to the Moon in a single launch.<\/p>\n Holsonback\u2019s job stretches from setting up production for the future upper stage at NASA\u2019s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where it\u2019s built, to preparing it for launch from the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be part of a capability that will send more crew and cargo to the Moon in a single launch than any other current rocket,\u201d Holsonback said. \u201cThat\u2019s going to make operations in the challenging space environment a lot simpler.\u201d<\/p>\n Growing up in North Georgia, Holsonback remembers wanting to be an astronaut and turning street cars into hot rods. He figured he\u2019d wind up in the auto industry, until Pratt & Whitney offered him a job working on space shuttle main engine turbomachinery straight out of college in 1997. He briefly left the space business but jumped at a chance to get back in with the SLS Program in 2016 at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center<\/a> in Huntsville, Alabama. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to come back and do rockets,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt gets in your blood. You\u2019re part of something bigger that just yourself. Through Artemis, we are truly impacting the space program at its foundational level of how we are getting back to the Moon and to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n Holsonback\u2019s enthusiasm for space challenges doesn\u2019t end at the office door. In his free time, Holsonback has mentored and coached his two daughters\u2019 technology challenge competitions. While the challenge is foremost a robotics contest, Holsonback is proud of the lessons in problem solving, technology, and project management he\u2019s helped impart to the team along the way \u2013 which he likens to his NASA job.<\/p>\n You could say Erick Holsonback is working on the future personally as well as professionally, but it\u2019s hard to beat working on a Moon rocket.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had some great opportunities with NASA, but my current role is pretty amazing \u2013 getting \u00a0to be part of building and launching,\u201d he reflected. \u201cI get to play a little part in the overall foundation work that is going to be part of the history of our country for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA\u2019s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.<\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> Whether he\u2019s advising student robotic competitions or managing production of a powerful, new Moon rocket stage, Erick Holsonback meets technical challenges with enthusiasm. Holsonback, a Jacobs Technology employee, is subsystem manager for production and launch operations of the exploration upper stage (EUS) for NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. SLS is NASA\u2019s super heavy lift [\u2026] Continue reading
\nLee Mohon <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"