LSU engineering alumnus Alex Cagnola is working with NASA and their Artemis program to design some of the agency’s most powerful rockets that are intended for expeditions to the moon and future space explorations.
There are three specific missions for the Artemis program, Cagnola said. The first Artemis mission was intended to send an empty capsule around the moon. The second mission intended to have another capsule travel around the moon, with astronauts piloting the capsule.
Cagnola said that the third mission of the Artemis program is intended to have the first man and woman travel back to the surface of the moon hopefully as soon as 2024. He said that returning to the moon allows use of the moon’s resources.
“The moon is a great waypoint for us to learn, develop new technologies and eventually go to Mars,” Cagnola said.
Cagnola said that the moon is unique because it has no ozone layer. Because of this, the radiation and solar waves that the moon is exposed to allows the moon to be rich in resources that may be limited on Earth. 

Cagnola emphasized that while the price tag may seem troublesome at the moment, humanity benefits greatly from the science and innovation that stems from the success of these missions to the moon.

“People don’t understand the type of technologies that NASA develops that we end up using in our everyday life,” Cagnola said. “I mean, everything from velcro to your GPS and your phone, it was all developed as part of our space programs.”
He said LSU had a great impact on his journey toward his future career, and the engineering college instilled valuable skills in him, such as leadership and collaboration. He said these skills helped him to navigate in a career that is filled with talented individuals.
“I realized that coming from LSU, we have a lot of really good skills in teamwork and leadership building,” Cagnola said. “LSU did a really good job at giving me that cutting edge on other people in the workplace.”

Cagnola advised young engineering students to not be afraid of the transition between college and a settled career. He said that his degree didn’t really relate to aerospace and he was originally intimidated by his current environment. But, he studied hard and prospered in his position with a commitment to succeed.
 “I was kind of afraid to apply to some of the positions that I now work and succeeded at, at NASA,” Cagnola said. “You know you’re looking down into the chasm and you can’t see the bottom, but you gotta realize that there’s water down there so you can take that step to make that leap.”

Cagnola also advised engineering students to determine definitive passions about what they want to do for their careers, and use their current time at LSU to get involved in organizations or projects to further develop their passions.

“Even if an engineering student is kind of intimidated by a certain subject, if that’s what you want to do, then you should try to find projects and ask your faculty about getting involved in projects that have to do with that,” Cagnola said. “I think that’s a really good start for engineering students.”