University of North Dakota’s Official News Source
Historic NASA space capsule ‘splashes down’ at UND for refurbishment and, ultimately, permanent display assembled container house
Editor’s note: In the UND LEADS Strategic Plan, the Discovery core value calls on the University to “foster innovative teaching, applied learning and transformative research that exemplifies discovery.” The story below describes a new effort that will enlist graduate students in the task of refurbishing a NASA space capsule, an innovative teaching and applied learning approach that lines up nicely with the UND LEADS Strategic Plan.
A journey spanning seven days, 30 states and 2,057 miles came to an end on Monday, Aug. 28, after a piece of NASA history was unloaded at UND’s Inflatable Lunar-Mars Analog Habitat, just west of Interstate 29.
That piece of history is an immense space capsule, used during a “launch abort” test at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The capsule was launched on July 8, 2009, as a trial run of the system that would eject it from the larger spacecraft, much like an ejection seat could be powered out of a fighter jet. Pablo de León, department chair of Space Studies, said he had been asking NASA for the capsule for several months, and that he is delighted now that it is on campus.
“The fact is, we are so far away from NASA centers, and we very seldom get pieces of historic significance,” de León said. “This is a major one.”
Shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday, a group of people gathered near the habitat to watch the capsule being unloaded by a 60-ton crane (not an easy thing to organize during construction season). A pair of Space Studies graduate students helped de León and UND staff members, along with Landstar (the Texas-based transportation company) employees and a crane operator, set up a wooden base to hold the capsule.
And there it will likely stay through the winter, as de León and his graduate students work to sandblast and restore the 18,000-pound capsule to its original paint scheme. Despite the object’s degraded exterior, anyone visiting the site can see the NASA logo, carefully positioned by the crane operator to face the road leading to the Lunar Habitat.
Because it splashed down into the Atlantic Ocean after the test, de León said he needs to inspect it for saltwater damage as well, which means getting a peek inside. As to what could be in there, de León said he wasn’t exactly sure.
“NASA built it to be a weight simulator of the capsule,” he said. “Chances are, it’s just metal.”
Once it has been refurbished, the plan is to place the capsule in a more visible location on campus, where one easily can imagine it becoming a site visited by class after class of public-school students from across the region.
De León said he is hoping to provide students with additional educational material about the capsule.
“We are seeing if we can, with the help of NASA, get a kind of a documentary produced on the capsule’s flight and why it’s important for the Artemis program, so kids can learn about the history of it and why it’s important for the future,” he said.
The capsule isn’t the only piece of NASA history on campus. About three months ago, de León managed to secure a Saturn I rocket engine — one that was used during the Apollo Program era, between 1968 and 1972. The engine is being refurbished at a Grand Forks company and will then be used as an instructional tool for students studying rocket propulsion.
Despite having been launched in 2009, the capsule is a link to NASA’s future. It was created to test elements of NASA’s Artemis missions, the first of which was an uncrewed lunar flight test that blasted off on Nov. 16, 2022. That capsule splashed down about a month later.
Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft around the Moon; Artemis III will send the first humans to explore the region near the lunar South Pole. After that, the goal of the Artemis Program is to pave the way for a human mission to Mars.
Shipping company Landstar picked up the capsule in Langley, Va. The company had to secure permits for 30 states in order to transport the capsule to North Dakota. The company even was required to have a pilot vehicle in front of the semi, with another escort vehicle following behind.
Driver Tim Woodruff said people followed him for miles on his way north, and when he stopped, he frequently was asked what the capsule was and where it was heading. He joked with one family that it came from Roswell, N.M., and it contained “green aliens,” encased in concrete, he said.
Mostly, people wanted photos and videos of the capsule, but some even pulled over on highway off ramps to get a better look, Woodruff said. Some even turned around on two-lane roads to follow him.
And the best part? During a stop in Sioux Falls, S.D., Woodruff encountered a group of children involved with Special Olympics of South Dakota. The young people were enamored with the capsule and gathered around to see it.
“That was the most amazing part of the trip,” he said. “Seeing the smiles on those kids’ faces.”
>> QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS about the UND LEADS Strategic Plan? Your thoughts are welcome! Please contact Mike Wozniak, coordinator of Leadership & Programming, and/or Ryan Zerr, associate vice president for Strategy & Implementation, the co-chairs of the UND LEADS Implementation Committee.
You also may offer your thoughts by visiting the UND LEADS Strategic Plan home page and clicking on the “Provide your feedback” link that you’ll find there.
Thank you for your support of the UND LEADS Strategic Plan!
Adam Kurtz is a 2000 graduate of the University of North Dakota. In 2002 he moved to Japan to teach English. There he met his wife and started a family, and returned to North Dakota with them in 2019. He worked as a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald before joining the Division of Marketing & Communications at UND in mid-2022 as the Strategic Communications Writer.
UND Today is the University’s official online news source, supporting strategic goals that ensure UND’s place as the Chief Opportunity Engine and Premier Flagship in the Northern Plains.
Get the latest national UND news coverage or contact our media team.
Check your inbox or spam folder now to confirm your UND Today subscription.
University of North Dakota 264 Centennial Dr Stop 4177 Grand Forks, ND 58202 UND.today@UND.edu
container shop © 2025 University of North Dakota - Grand Forks, ND - Member of ND University System