Women at Redmond company playing major roles in plan to send 1st woman to Moon

REDMOND, Wash. — NASA will soon be sending a woman to the Moon for the first time in human history, and some women in Western Washington are helping make that happen.

KIRO 7′s Ranji Sinha sat down with the women working on the spacecraft who are looking to get them there.

Erica Raine is a senior executive at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Redmond and is the program manager for the Orion Project. She’s coordinating work on the engines that will propel the astronauts to the Moon in the Orion spacecraft.

“I lead and integrate a group here in Redmond, Washington, and across the United States,” said Raine.

Kathryn Luczek is a senior manufacturing engineer who also plays a critical role working on the engines.

“I ensure that all the engines that we build in Redmond are made to a quality and schedule,” said Luczek.

Both women are ready for a future that will end up in the history books.

In late 2025, we will see the first woman fly to the Moon, a scenario that so far has only happened in stories. Raine is clearly excited to be playing a key role in making all this happen.

“Our engines will be taking the first woman, Christina Koch, to the Moon and around the Moon,” said Raine.

She’s overseeing dozens of people in Redmond working on the engines that will ensure that Koch, mission specialist for the Artemis II mission, has a safe trip into space.

Raine says the Redmond team designed and built the engines that will be used to get to the Moon and will maneuver the spacecraft around it.

“It’s just this big community of people that are going to the Moon and returning to the Moon,” said Raine.

Luczek says that becoming an engineer and quality control manager on the Orion project is a dream come true.

“It’s so impactful for me, I grew up in sci-fi household,” she said.

She took her love of science fiction and turned it into working in science fact as a lead engineer. She’s working on the main thruster for Orion and ensures that it has met the highest standards so that NASA can use it in space.

“Here in Washington, we’re building 20 engines that will be on the Orion vehicle,” said Luczek.

Luczek knows that all of this work for NASA has meant jobs for people in Redmond, but also a chance women to be in roles that were at one point only occupied by men.

“Having the opportunity to work in an engineering field … being able to see women at all levels is amazing to me,” she said.

Over the next decade and beyond, Redmond will play a role in manufacturing dozens of engines that will head into space.

Getting the first woman to the Moon next year is a bonus for the women who broke historic barriers.

Luczek says being promoted based on what she does best and not her gender has been uplifting.

“Growing up, there weren’t a lot of examples of women in engineering, but that’s what I was naturally inclined and good at…there’s no limit to what you’re capable of doing,” she said.

Raine also realizes the impact of working on the project to send the first woman to the Moon.

“To be a woman leading this portion of the program – it’s just a proud moment and I love it,” Raine said.

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