Suburban Chicago company plays key role in historic Artemis II mission

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. - The launch of Artemis II captivated the world's attention as four astronauts embarked on NASA's first crewed mission of its kind in more than half a century. 

Their 10-day journey features a series of milestones, including Thursday evening's translunar injection burn, which will send the spacecraft toward the Moon. 

For one Chicago-area, family-owned company, the mission hits close to home.

What we know:

Otto Engineering, a manufacturing company located in Carpentersville, Ill., is playing a key role in NASA's Artemis Program.

The Artemis II mission is one of NASA's most ambitious flights, and the company is leaving its stamp on the spacecraft's system controls. 

"First, I didn't think so much about Otto, I thought about America," said Tom Roeser, chairman of Otto Engineering. 

Roeser, who is continuing his father's legacy, says the company's involvement in the project has been years in the making. Otto Engineering entered the conversation nearly a decade ago, when NASA was looking for a firm to partner with.

"As they questioned, 'Can you make this kind of product?', only a fool would have said, 'yes,' because nobody makes the kind of product to go to Mars. But in confidence, I could say, yes, we can meet your application," said Ed Trowbridge, senior manager of manufacturing operations at Otto Engineering. 

After winning the bid two years later, Otto got to work creating switches for the Artemis II Orion spacecraft.

Following a series of prototypes, visits from NASA astronauts who provided input, and extensive testing, Trowbridge says their work was ready for liftoff.

"It's pride, absolutely it's pride — in the company, in America, that once again we are at the forefront of exploration," Trowbridge said. 

Inside the spacecraft, dubbed Integrity, the four-person crew will use the Carpentersville-made controls to switch between manual and automated systems.

"Inside that cockpit, there will be a large panel that sits up above the astronauts with many, many toggle switches; those are produced in this building, actually just 50 yards behind us," Trowbridge explained. "These are actually controlling the shuttle, the life systems, the piloting of the shuttle as it moves around."

A piece of the Chicago area is now traveling into deep space, becoming part of history.

"These are designed specifically for NASA and for this mission, we have an order in for another thousand or so switches that will be used for simulators and future flights, and I would expect that those switches will have a different specification in a couple weeks, because they're going to learn something on this mission," Roeser shared. 

What's next:

Executives at Otto Engineering say they'll be tasked with adjusting and modifying those controls for NASA's next Artemis mission.

You can track the progress of the Artemis II mission throughout its journey on NASA's website.