(West Lafayette, IN) - As NASA prepares to return humans to the Moon by 2024, they've selected a Purdue graduate to be one of the Artemis Lunar Exploration Program's first astronauts.

 

During a National Space Council meeting at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence introduced the Artemis team members.  Astronaut Scott Tingle was among the eighteen members Vice President Pence announced to be part of the team that will return humans to the moon. 

 

Graduating from Purdue in 1988, Tingle earned a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering with a specialty in fluid mechanics and propulsion.  The U.S. Navy captain has accumulated more than 4,000 flight hours in 48 types of aircraft, including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He was selected by NASA to join their 2009 astronaut class and has since spent 168 days in space, including a spacewalk. 

 

With twenty-five of their graduates who have become astronauts, Purdue University has a history of propelling their alumni into space.  Boiler alum Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan were the first and last humans to set foot on the Moon.  With the announcement of Tingle to the Artemis Astronaut team, another Purdue alumni will make history as crewed missions return to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.  

 

Tingle, originally from Massachusetts, is married to his wife, Raynette.  They have three children, Amy, Sean, and Eric.