MILLINGTON, Tenn. – When NASA’s Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific upon their return to Earth from their flight around the moon, U.S. Navy sailors stood ready to welcome them home.
Airman Apprentice Mackenzie Farley, a native of Muncie, Indiana, was among the sailors who supported the recovery of the crew and the Orion space capsule.
Farley, a 2023 graduate of Pendleton Heights High School, serves the U.S. Navy assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23, which airlifted the Artemis II crew back to USS John P. Murtha for further evaluations and then back to land.
Farley served as an aviation administration clerk during the recovery mission.
“My role was screening aircraft and support equipment to make sure it is safe for our pilots and aircrewmen to pick up the NASA crew safely and with no flaws,” Farley said.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Muncie.
“In my hometown, I learned a lot more about what not to do and how to do things right,” Farley said. “I learned from my family, as well as from Muncie, that it’s important to work hard and to be proud of my work.”
Farley joined the Navy less than a year ago. Today, Farley serves as an undesignated sailor in the Airman Professional Apprenticeship Career Track (A/PACT) program.
“My family includes a military background, such as my dad, grandfathers, uncles and extended family,” Farley said. “I joined to make my family proud and make myself a home and name.”
NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts – NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – on a nearly 10-day flight around the moon in the Orion space capsule, marking the first time in more than 50 years that humans journeyed to deep space. The crew splashed down just after 5 p.m. (PDT) on April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, where Navy sailors who had been training for this recovery mission were waiting aboard John P. Murtha.
In addition to transporting the crew, members of HSC-23 also provided NASA with imagery support from their MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters by tracking the Orion space capsule as it traveled through Earth’s atmosphere.
Based at Naval Air Station North Island, California, the “Wildcards” of HSC-23 fly and maintain the MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter, the Navy’s most advanced rotary wing sea combat platform. The Navy MH-60S is able to perform many different missions, but some of the most common operations include airborne mine countermeasures, anti-surface warfare, combat search and rescue, supply support and medical evacuations.
Farley has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during military service.
“I am proud of being good at the job I am working in now as an undesignated sailor,” Farley said.
This year, the Navy is commemorating its contribution to the nation’s defense as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence. According to Navy officials, for more than 250 years, the Navy has sailed the globe defending freedom and protecting prosperity.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber-optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
“Serving gives me the chance to be independent and have my own family,” Farley said. “I also enjoy working for my country and protecting my family, blood or not.”
Farley is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my parents,” Farley said. “My mom showed me how hard a worker I can be with herself as an example, and my dad taught me to never give up and be strong for the family I support.”