Artemis II made history.

The NASA mission was the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since 1972 and the furthest humans have ever traveled from Earth. While four astronauts braved the historic journey, thousands of experts, scientists, and seasoned professionals made the mission possible — before, during, and after launch.

Among those thousands were two members of the Marshall community: 2020 Master of Business for Veterans (MBV) graduate Vladillen Gonzalez and Executive MBA (EMBA) student Ryan Crider, who will graduate this May.

Gonzalez, who worked at Lockheed Martin, served as the quality engineering manager for the Orion spacecraft that carried the astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. Over weekends, holidays, and often long into the night, he and his team committed countless hours to the construction and fine-tuning of the capsule, ensuring its safety and structural integrity. Yet, the Marshall alumnus says it wasn’t until liftoff on April 1 he finally appreciated their achievement.

“Launch was a very emotional moment for me,” Gonzalez said. “You’re watching years of work, sacrifice, and effort come together in a matter of minutes. There’s pride, but there’s also a lot of weight because you understand everything that went into that moment. When it launched successfully, I had tears coming down. It just hit me all at once.”

When Gonzalez’s spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on April 10, the astronauts were greeted by the United States Navy and another USC Marshall student: Crider, the master diver for the Artemis I and Artemis II recovery mission.

Artemis II’s crewed operation posed an entirely new challenge, including months of preparation and training with the crew, as well as the pressure to execute during the operation.

On the day of Artemis II’s reentry, the master diver recalled being a tangle of nerves and excitement as he watched the capsule plummet from the sky, producing a sonic boom as it penetrated Earth’s atmosphere, and float down to water by parachute. Crider didn’t have time to marvel, however. He had a crew to recover.

He recalled the tension as his team received approval to open the hatch.

“That’s the moment where everyone holds their breath, because you want to make sure everyone is safe inside,” Crider said. “When the team finally got the hatch open and the door swung open, the crew inside started cheering and waving — it was like seeing a long-lost friend. A friend who had traveled around 500,000 miles.”

As the operation wrapped up, Crider had one last task: take a photo with the Artemis II capsule and his trusty USC flag.

Like the master diver, Gonzalez has a military background, serving as a helicopter squadron support specialist in the Marine Corps for five years. Although the veteran’s service and ensuing experience at Raytheon provided him a robust technical background, the veteran wanted to develop his leadership skills as well.

He discovered USC Marshall’s MBV degree, and in just one year, Gonzalez says the program changed the trajectory of his career.

“MBV helped me shift into thinking more strategically and positioning myself for leadership,” Gonzalez said. “That alone made a big difference in how I presented myself professionally, and it helped me secure a role with Lockheed Martin, which ultimately set off a chain of events that led to me working on the Orion program.”

According to Gonzalez, his education pushed him to success long after graduation. In fact, he believes he regularly used his MBV experience while working on the Artemis II capsule and managing his team.

“MBV helped me communicate more effectively, think strategically, and understand how to align teams toward a common goal,” Gonzalez said. “I wasn’t just looking at technical problems anymore, I was looking at risk, impact, and the bigger picture. It helped me grow from being an engineer into someone responsible for people, performance, and mission success.”

Unlike Gonzalez, Crider says he had extensive leadership training but lacked the technical acumen. Planning his retirement from the Navy, he searched for a way to translate his service experience to the civilian world, while building a community like the one he experienced in the service. When a senior officer described the connective power of the Trojan Family, the master diver was sold on USC Marshall.

“As a Navy Diver, we rely on each other whether we’ve known each other for five minutes or 50 years,” Crider said. “I knew I wanted to be part of a community that helped each other out, believed in each other, and did everything they could to ensure one another’s success — because that’s what I’ve grown up with.”

While the master diver initially chose the EMBA program to learn the business strategies needed to flourish in the private sector, he never could have anticipated how often he’d apply management learnings to his role in the Navy.

“When I went through dive school, I was pushed to my physical limits so that when times got hard, we all knew we could rely on one another and we wouldn't lose our cool. The EMBA program has been very similar,” Crider said. “It has pushed me academically and shown me that I can handle more stress than I originally anticipated.”

Although they played different roles in the operation, both Trojans consider Artemis II the closing of a significant chapter, both personally and professionally. For Gonzalez, it’s the fulfillment of a childhood dream. He remembers growing up in a low-income environment in Puerto Rico, where NASA felt as far away as Artemis II’s orbit.

“As a kid, I had a picture of the space shuttle Columbia on my wall, and I used to fall asleep looking at it,” Gonzalez recalled. “Back then, working for NASA felt impossible.”

For Crider, it’s the perfect close to a long and distinguished naval career.

“My career is coming to a close, and the next group of Navy Divers is going to step up for the missions ahead. But I am so incredibly proud to have been part of this one,” Crider said. “I’ve made lifelong friends during this chapter of my life, and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.”