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Ohio State grad leads Artemis II return

Alissa Widman Neese

Five NASA employees sit at a blue curved desk while a large screen behind displays the title "NASA's Artemis II Rollout & Mission Overview News Conference." — Ohio State alum and Artemis II lead flight director Jeff Radigan, center, during a January news conference. Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

The Artemis II crew is set to return to Earth today — and the person from mission control ensuring everything goes smoothly learned the ropes in Ohio.

Catch up quick: Jeff Radigan, the mission's lead flight director, earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Ohio State in the early 2000s. He joined NASA in 2008.

He "leads a team of flight controllers, researchers, engineers and other experts that work together to complete the mission and keep the astronauts safe," the Dispatch reports.

Behind the scenes: Radigan's wife, Molly, also graduated from OSU and works for NASA.

She's deputy chief of the Spaceflight Systems Division, leading "mission control personnel responsible for power, avionics and life support for NASA's human space missions," per the Dispatch.

What's next: A Navy recovery team is expected to pick up the astronauts tonight when their flight capsule lands in the ocean south of San Diego, just after 8pm our time. NASA is streaming it live.

Go deeper: Ohio State's 2024 alumni feature on the Radigans

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Ohio State grad leads Artemis II return

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