I Am Artemis: Ryan Schulte

Listen to this audio excerpt from Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager: Your browser does not support the audio element. As the four Artemis II astronauts traveled on a 694,481-mile journey around the Moon and back, the Orion spacecraft provided them with all the essentials for deep space life, including daily exercise. The crew used an exercise device called the flywheel throughout their mission to maintain their physical and mental health, and Ryan Schulte, Orion flywheel project manager, led the team responsible for developing the flywheel for the historic flight. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Schulte oversees the team that designed, built, tested, and flew the flywheel used on Artemis II, and currently develops a fleet of more reusable exercise devices for future Artemis missions. Ryan Schulte Orion Flywheel Project Manager The flywheel is a compact, multi-functional device about the size of a large shoebox that provides the crew with a range of aerobic and resistive workouts without requiring any electrical power from the spacecraft. “It works kind of like an inertial yo-yo,” said Schulte. The user can select different gear ratios for different resistance modes, and the flywheel can provide ultimately up to 500 pounds of resistance. “It’s really all dependent upon how much effort you put in. …