UW grad Howard Hu, '91, '94, led the design, development, production & operations of Orion, the groundbreaking spacecraft that just returned from NASA’s mission to the far side of the moon. The astronauts set a new record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by humans. pic.twitter.com/pAsJubju6V
— University of Washington (@UW) April 11, 2026
Esoterikos readers briefly met Howard when I took umbrage at this a couple months back:
Two former top NASA engineers say Artemis 2 isn't safe and there's a good chance the astronauts will be killed on re-entry.
Here's a bit of what I said at the time:
I am not sanguine about the risks, but I also don't believe for a moment that NASA isn't taking them seriously. And this red flag in the original tweet is a red flag for me in a different sense:
A big red flag: the same people are in charge when Columbia's heat shield failed.
Which people are they, exactly? It strikes me highly unlikely that it's all the same managers who made decisions 23 years ago, but if that's a concern, why no specific person(s) being called out? That's usually a tell that the poster is just channeling Charlie Day and not truly informed.
For instance, the previous Orion program manager was Catherine Koerner, who was a shuttle flight director after Columbia, while the current manager, Howard Hu, was promoted to the role in '22. Both have long careers at NASA, but were not the ones calling shots in '03.
Hu, BTW, is a graduate of the University of Washington, I've come to learn. He is also a contemporary, so I am sure he remembers both shuttle accidents vividly, and is an engineer dedicated to crew safety and mission success.
Anyway, that's how it started, here's how it's going:
A bit louder for those naysayers in the back: Welcome home, Artemis II.
Selah.
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