INDIANAPOLIS — University of Arizona astrophysicist Erika Hamden can connect the dots between her beloved space and basketball.
It all boils down to excellence.
"We want to have a base on the moon, and all these national ambitions," said Hamden, who heads the UA Space Institute. "But at the same time, it's actually a human experience to want to explore. And basketball is also about excellence in all things. And you might think like, well, basketball and space have nothing to do with each other, but it's all done by people (doing) the thing that they love."
Erika Hamden, right, is over the moon about the Artemis II moon mission. She's also pretty excited about the Arizona Wildcats in the Final Four.
"The University of Arizona is a place where you can do the thing that you love at the best height possible," she added during the UA's pep rally and VIP reception Friday night at Indianapolis' historic Union Station.
The space-basketball connection is not something that Hamden is pulling out of thin air. For a Feb. 18 game vs. BYU, the Wildcats wore "Galaxy Slam" gear, designed to highlight UA research that has helped NASA missions.
Stare are subtly lined into the word "Arizona" on the "Galaxy Slam" uniforms the Wildcats wore on Feb. 18 against BYU.
"I love being a college basketball coach because you're part of a bigger university community, and I think that's really important," Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said at the time. "Anytime you can kind of bridge the gap between athletics and the other side of campus, I think that's really, really cool."
Hamden, who joined the UA Space Institute in 2018, had a small crowd gathered around her to see a video of the Artemis II moon mission. The UA is one of the universities tapped by NASA to keep a watchful eye on the craft as it makes its way to the moon.
"You have a bunch of different people all looking at it," she said. "It's a really fun thing for students. There's a bunch of students that are going every night because it's only visible from Tucson at night. That's when you can see the moon face."
Hamden, who posts space-related videos on Instagram and TikTok for her combined 250,000 followers, said the UA will be involved in future Artemis systems, including providing instruments that will be put on the moon, she said.
If she had her way, she'd take those instruments herself.
"I have applied a bunch of times to be an astronaut," she said with a laugh. "I'd like to be on the next one."
With Arizona set to take on Michigan in the Final Four Saturday and Artemis II moon-bound, Hamden said this is the best week ever for her personally and for the UA.
"In the next couple of years, and for probably the next 20 years, we're gonna get way more people coming to the university that are inspired by the missions and want to work in space, whether that's engineering or space science," she said. "That's something that's just particularly exciting for me."
This image, taken from video provided by NASA, shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover, as they appear on a video conference from the moon's orbit, April 2.
"Personally, I'm just excited because it's so thrilling and one of the taglines for the U of A is 'Wonder.' and I feel like the whole Artemis mission is wondrous," she said.
Wanna track Artemis II? Log on to NASA's Artemis II website at nasa.gov/missions/artemis-ii/arow. To download the NASA app, visit nasa.gov/nasa-app.
