Belen High Graduate Farnsworth Contributes to Historic Artemis II Lunar Mission

When Danette Farnsworth watched the solid-fuel boosters separate from the Space Launch System on April 1, she already knew the mission was safe. "I said, 'We're golden. The rest is up to another team,'" said the Belen High School class of 1999 graduate, who serves as the lead engineer for Artemis II's main navigation, flight control, and propulsion systems.

Her reaction was not the relief of a bystander. Farnsworth has been embedded in the Artemis program since its first iteration, working the same mission-critical systems through Artemis I and already planning for Artemis III. The rocket carrying commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen lifted off from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center on April 1, sending four astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, completed a far-side lunar flyby on April 6, with the crew becoming the first people to observe some regions of the Moon's far side with their own eyes.

Farnsworth's path from the Rio Grande valley to Mission Control did not follow a straight line. In college, struggles with reading and writing pushed her to the point of tears until an English professor recognized the signs and asked whether she had ever been diagnosed with dyslexia. The diagnosis, late as it came, redirected her strategy rather than her ambition. She became a relentless credential collector, pursuing certifications in system engineering from MIT and in radar. "I am a senior level engineer and senior level scientist. I have all the qualifications for both," she said. "I'm huge on getting certifications."

Since June 2020, Farnsworth has held the title of senior system engineer at NASA. The Belen native, née Clouser, attended BHS prom with Grant Farnsworth, whom she later married, and has remained connected to the community even as her career took her into programs most Valencia County residents only see on television.

For students in Belen, Los Lunas, and Rio Communities looking at that trajectory, the most direct next step is the UNM-Valencia campus in Los Lunas, which runs the Reaching Rural STEM-H Students program, a $4.9 million federal grant aimed specifically at Hispanic and low-income students pursuing science, technology, engineering, math, and health degrees. Families can also plug into New Mexico MESA, a regional scholarship and mentorship network that includes Valencia County, and investigate nationally competitive options like the SMART Scholarship, which covers full tuition, provides a living stipend, and guarantees post-graduation employment with the Department of Defense. Twenty-five percent of UNM-Valencia undergraduates already receive grant or scholarship aid, averaging $4,490 per student.

Farnsworth now leads Artemis III development as Artemis II's crew makes its return to Earth. "I have a lot of energy and get bored fast," she said. That restlessness, starting from a small city in the Middle Rio Grande valley, is the most concrete proof Valencia County's current students have that a local education can be the first stage of a much longer flight.