“When those rockets light, the air just vibrates. You feel the sound permeating your body in waves… It’s magical.”

NASA has been pushing the boundaries of space exploration for decades, and today, the Artemis program is the next giant leap. With a mission to return humans to the moon and venture even further into space, NASA is embracing cutting-edge digital engineering to make this vision a reality.

In this episode, NASA give us very special access behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center. Meet Terry Hill (NASA’s Digital Engineering Program Manager),Trish Nicoli (NASA’s Digital Engineering Deputy Program Manager) and Christal Jolly (Core Stage Operations Manager) as they guide us around three of the most iconic sites in the history of space exploration.

Discover how tools like CAD models, simulation, and digital twins are revolutionizing the way rockets are designed, tested, and launched. From inside the massive VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), built to assemble the Saturn V rockets; to the mammoth crawler that transports spacecraft and launch tower to the iconic launchpad that’s been re-designed to accommodate Artemis, NASA’s most powerful Space Launch System to date.

Find out more about NASA’s Artemis program here.

Explore PTC’s technology here.

Your host is Paul Haimes from industrial software company PTC.

Episodes are released bi-weekly. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for updates.

This is an 18Sixty production for PTC. Executive producer is Jacqui Cook. Sound design and editing by Sara Joyner. Location recording by Gareth Evans. Music by Rowan Bishop.

Image: NASA