ILLINOIS – For the very first time, humanity is experiencing the far side of the Moon — a milestone reached Monday in NASA’s historic Artemis II mission.

The crewed Orion spacecraft is pushing new boundaries, made possible by the people supporting the mission from Earth.

Among them is an Illinois woman leading the team that is monitoring the spacecraft’s systems and ensuring its astronauts remain safe. 

What we know:

Jennifer Madsen is playing a key role in the Artemis II mission from the Johnson Space Center in Houston — the heart of NASA’s spaceflight operations.

Inside the Mission Evaluation Room (MER), Madsen and her team serve as Orion’s life-support system — Earthside.

“It was definitely surreal to be here and see the launch, because myself and this whole team have been working for years designing and testing this spacecraft,” said Jennifer Madsen, lead of NASA’s Artemis II Orion Mission Evaluation Room.

During the 10-day mission, engineers are constantly analyzing the spacecraft’s in-flight systems and helping astronauts troubleshoot issues. It’s a job that doesn’t stop — from launch until splashdown.

“In the Mission Control Center, we have the Flight Control Room, where they’re sending communication back and forth with the spacecraft. In this room, our Orion engineers are watching all the data that’s coming from the spacecraft, trending to see if the vehicle is doing what we expect, talking with the Flight Control Team about things we want the spacecraft to do — or if the spacecraft is giving us a signature that we’re not expecting, doing some troubleshooting on that anomaly,” Madsen explained. 

Dig deeper:

Madsen’s story begins in Illinois. She hails from the Quad Cities, where she attended Alleman High School in Rock Island. She then studied aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois before continuing her education in electrical engineering at the University of Houston — a path that prepared her to become the deputy manager for Orion’s Avionics, Power, and Software, and Mission Evaluation Room Lead. 

“They’re going to be taking images, working with the scientists, examining the craters, looking at the different lighting conditions. And so, our team during that time is going to be having our eyes on the spacecraft while the crew has their eyes on the Moon,” Madsen said. 

Just days before liftoff, Madsen visited the Adler Planetarium to discuss her role in the mission and answer questions from future scientists.

She says the most special part of this journey is taking humanity further than they’ve ever gone.

“That human portion of this mission is what’s really interesting, and it’s honestly where I think we’ve been learning the most about the spacecraft, because when we flew Artemis I, we did not have any people on it,” Madsen said. “The words that they’re bringing us, the pictures that they’ll be able to take is why we have this mission and we put humans on this spacecraft.”

What’s next:

Splashdown is scheduled for Friday, April 10. While the exact timing remains flexible, the spacecraft is projected to land in the Pacific Ocean around 7 p.m. Central Time.

You can track the progress of the Artemis II mission throughout its journey on NASA’s website.

Increases funded by federal COVID aid have been made permanent, causing a fiscal problem.

Illinois needs to pull back on spending.

Since 2020, the state has gotten $15.6 billion in federal aid related to the COVID-19 pandemic. While that funding was temporary, Illinois has permanently increased what it spends.

That has caused a fiscal problem for the state, with projected budget deficits totaling nearly $21 billion during the next five years. Expenditures are forecasted to grow nearly 20% in that time, but revenues only 11% in that time.

These estimates could be off by billions because of changes such as reductions to federal benefits programs. Still, lawmakers should return spending to pre-pandemic norms. In response to the pandemic, Illinois expanded its budget by nearly $11 billion from fiscal years 2020 to 2023, a 27% increase.

Temporary federal aid supported much of that growth. Even though the emergency has passed, what was federal money now is covered by Illinois taxpayers.

For example:

1. “Environment and culture” spending, which encompasses the Illinois Art Council and Department of Natural Resources, grew 62% in just three years, rising from $61 million to $99 million. Had spending grown in line with the state’s nominal GDP growth, it would have risen only about 10% by 2023.

2. “Human service” spending, for departments such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Human Rights, jumped from $6.6 billion in 2020 to $10.8 billion 2023, a 64% increase. Employee headcounts are up nearly 5,500 since 2020. If increases had tracked with nominal GDP growth, spending would be about $3.5 billion lower.

One way to rein in these increases is to enact a spending cap tied to that nominal GDP growth. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal of $56 billion, adds $880 million higher than the 2026 budget levels. With a spending cap in place, the state would need to cut $2 billion from the current proposal.

To help better manage its spending, Illinois should make more use of its Budgeting for Results Commission. Established in 2010, it can evaluate state programs, identify inefficiencies and ensure taxpayer money is tied to measurable outcomes.

The commission has been underutilized. Strengthening it would help lawmakers target waste and prioritize core services.

Other reforms would help establish fiscal stability. Read more in our report Illinois Forward 2027.