Pictured is Nichols with Artemis 2 pilot Victor Glover
By Andrew Harris
For millions of Americans, the recent Artemis 2 mission around the moon brought welcome patriotism and national pride over a successful mission. After some historic space tragedies have unfolded on prime time, this time the United States amazed the world. The trip around the moon was a triumph, a exposition of the nation’s technological ability that will go down in world history.
Hornell Class of 1992 graduate Gary Nichols had a front row seat, literally a front row seat, from his desk at the Kennedy Space Center located in Florida.
“Right outside the door to my office is where the astronauts walk out to go to the pad, so I had a great view of Artemis 2 launch.” said Nichols.
While the launch didn’t give Gary much anxiety, the return was more of a nail-biter because of the heat shield, which was a concern after Artemis 1, and there were 4 astronauts on board which raised the stakes exponentially.
Gary is a Systems Analyst for Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor on the Orion spacecraft, his office is at the Kennedy Space Center where he and a team do the essential work of making sure the computer systems that are used to test the various components of the Orion Crew Module (CM), the Service Module (SM) designed and built by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Launch Abort System (LAS) both individually and after they have been integrated and stacked at the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout building at KSC are all working properly.
Nichols is part of a huge team and a huge success. The first thing he explains when reflecting on the effort is that it took hundreds of thousands of individuals to achieve.
“The importance of every person involved can’t be overstated. From the project manager to the facility cleaners, we all operate in a zero tolerance environment, we all have to do our jobs at a high level or the overall mission can fall apart. That requires high expectations, respect, and trust.”
Nichols can look back at his days attending Hornell High School and see how his abilities to succeed on a team were awakened by athletics. Longtime Athletic Director Bob Codispoti had a lasting impact on Gary and he learned how to win with teamwork.
Codispoti remembers Gary well and couldn’t be prouder of his former athletic assistant and the accomplishment of the entire NASA team.
“It is amazing to have a former Hornell High School student who is now involved in an epic historical event, the Artemis Space Program.”
The former AD and Red Raider coach remembered taking Gary under his wing and being glad that he did!
” Gary played an important role in helping me and so many others in making those sectional events a successful venture for many student athletes from Hornell and many other schools throughout Section V. Gary was like a “student assistant” who was involved in many different roles, mainly selling tickets at a variety of those contests and being available working those events,” explained Codispoti.
Gary remembers his days at Hornell High School and Coach Codispoti as an important mentor who helped him build confidence:
“He saw something in me and that had a big impact on a young kid in high school trying to find a place in life. I tell all the young kids that will listen—look for mentors, they will open doors for you and become lifelong friends. Codi and I still keep in touch!”
From Hornell High Gary has great memories of working for Davidson’s furniture before enrolling at Alfred State College in the Computing Graphics Engineering Technology program, which in short was an advanced CAD/CAM program with a higher emphasis on engineering principles. While at Alfred, he was heavily influenced by his professor, the late James Woughter, pictured below.
“Mr. Woughter – JRW as we knew him — loved keeping up with his former students, and I was honored to be one of the ones he reached out to over the years, he passed in June 2025 and we talked or text right up until a few weeks before he passed. He was a great mentor during school and beyond after I graduated in 1996,” Nichols remembers.
After talking to Gary for a bit and hearing about his front row to history I asked him to speak to the Red Raiders of today who face an uncertain future in the face of artificial intelligence. As a product of a trade school Nichols is naturally an advocate for hands on learning as the world changes at ‘warp speed.’
“The most important thing by far, is to figure out what you like, what you enjoy, and then take steps in that direction. Look for open doors, seek out mentors, and put forth real effort… good things will happen.”
Gary is proud of his roots and would love to hear from local students and young people who have questions and dream of being part of a historic team like Artemis 2.
Send him an email anytime with congrats, questions, or good memories!!! He can be reached at nicholga@yahoo.com.
