Saratoga graduate assists in Orion spacecraft launch

Two University of Wyoming graduates played key roles in last week’s successful NASA test flight of a spacecraft designed to eventually take humans to Mars.

Griffin Corpening, formerly of Saratoga,who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from UW in 1977 and 1984, was part of the Mission Management Team that guided decisions during the launch of the Orion spacecraft as well as coordinated NASA flight readiness reviews and the assessment of the Delta IV Heavy Rocket that carried the craft into space. He serves as deputy manager for technical integration in NASA’s Orion Flig...