KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. - When the Artemis I rocket blasts off, as early as Monday morning, it will be the culmination of Darlene Pokora's three-decade career with NASA.
“It’s going to be one of the thrills of my life and my career at NASA," she told News 3 excitedly in July.
At NASA Langley Research Center, Pokora led the team that developed the Orion space capsule, which will eventually carry the first woman and next man — the first person of color — to the Moon.
For the unmanned Artemis I, she'll have to settle for her capsule breaking the record for furthest-traveling spacecraft designed to carry humans. The Orion capsule will travel within 60 miles of the lunar surface and then 40,000 miles beyond the Moon, before returning to Earth.
With her work done for now, Pokora decided to accompany a handful of engineers from Langley to see the Artemis I launch in person. She video chatted with News 3 from outside the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, where the rocket was built and wheeled out.
“I’m really excited. The other morning I drove out, got pretty close to the rocket. It’s a beautiful thing there on the pad and I just can’t wait for it to launch," she said.
The good news is Pokora will get to sleep the night prior. Others, including Langley's Space Launch System lead Jeremy Pinier, will be working through the night to make sure everything is working as it should.
“We do have a couple of guys who are going to be working in the Control Room," said Pokora. "We have a lot of flight instrumentation we’re going to be monitoring, but it’s set to go.”
The Artemis launch window opens at 8:33 a.m. and Pokora tells News 3, if the conditions are right, NASA will want to launch right away.
"To say that I had a part of that is...I can’t believe that was an opportunity that I had in life," she said.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 3 for updates starting Monday morning.
