More than 50 years had passed since NASA astronauts visited the Moon’s orbit. That hiatus ended with the Artemis II mission in early April. And the work of a husband and wife team of Thomson High School graduates was part of making that mission a success.
Jeff and Melissa Pilgrim’s company, the Las Cruces, N.M.-based Vista Photonics, developed a device called the Anomaly Gas Analyzer (AGA) that was a small but important component of the Orion Spacecraft. The AGA is a portable, battery-operated, multi-gas monitor that can report Oxygen and Ammonia levels in real-time, as well as detect and notify astronauts of the presence of many harmful gases resulting from combustion, such as Hydrogen Fluoride, Hydrogen Cyanide, and Carbon Monoxide.
“The crew can power the AGA on anytime they detect an unusual odor to monitor for any of these gases,” Dr. Jeff Pilgrim said. “It can also be used after a fire, when the crew are in their spacesuits, to monitor the cabin for toxic gases while the spacecraft air handling system attempts to clean the air. It will let the crew know when it is safe to doff their helmets.”
The device was put to good use during the mission’s lunar transit. The crew detected an unusual scent and powered up the AGA to determine if the air was safe. The issue was likely caused by insulation heating up around the spacecraft’s toilet. Astronauts also used the AGA during reentry as part of standard operating procedure. The device is located on an inside bulkhead of Orion so the crew can monitor gases through splashdown.
“The AGA let them know during reentry suit donning that they were generating high co2, so they took that under consideration during the suit donning process to limit their exertion,” Dr. Pilgrim said.
Because of the Pilgrims’ contributions to the mission, NASA invited them to attend the Artemis II launch at Kennedy Space Center on April 1. They were able to witness the product of years of their hard work in action as part of the historic return to the Moon. However, the couple’s journey to get there started in Thomson, Ga.
Dr. Pilgrim is a 1984 graduate of Thomson High School. He went on to the University of Georgia for undergraduate and graduate degrees. He worked with his former employer on NASA projects until 2003, when the couple formed Vista Photonics to design, develop, and build specialty high-performance gas sensors. Dr. Pilgrim has served as the company’s president since. His work was recognized by the UGA Chemistry Department with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2023.
“McDuffie County Schools instilled the math, science, and humanities core fundamentals in our base of knowledge to allow our natural curiosity to be pursued at university,” he said.
Melissa Pilgrim (formerly Minton) graduated from Thomson High in 1987, and the couple were married in November of 1990. Mrs. Pilgrim also went on to UGA and currently serves as the Vista Photonics chief administrative officer, chief financial officer and the secretary/treasurer of its board of directors.
“Even though we came from a small school system, I don’t feel that my education was lacking anything when I started at UGA,” Mrs. Pilgrim said. “I graduated with the knowledge and skills necessary to attend college and do well. Even today, I regularly fall back on those early years as I’m composing emails or preparing business reports.”
Vista Photonics was born in the Pilgrims’ home office, but its NASA work started through participation in the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR). This initiative provides research funding in a highly competitive solicitation/proposal environment. Dr. Pilgrim said government agencies solicit proposals for technology they need, even if it doesn’t yet exist.
“Small businesses then compete for funding on that topic and, if successful, can go through several phases of research funding,” he said. “We were able to compete successfully in that program for over 10 years before we sufficiently developed the technology that led to the AGA.”
As their company continued to succeed, it grew to meet those needs. Vista Photonics now consists of nine full-time employees. The couple’s sons even followed their parents into the family business, and the company’s customers now include the Department of Energy, EPA, USDA, and the Department of Defense, in addition to NASA.
“The devices that were just on the Artemis ship were based off of an SBIR project that we got in 2006,” Mrs. Pilgrim said. “That turned into a demonstration project that was tested on the International Space Station, and that became the AGA. We continue to work on these sensors, with more for future Artemis missions and possibly on the Moon.”