The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
At Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis I Orion is transported from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 19, 2021, ahead of stacking on the Space Launch System rocket.
Engineers and astronauts conduct testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 28, 2016 to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations. ..While the crew will primarily use the side hatch for entry and exit on Earth and the docking hatch to travel between Orion and a habitation module on long-duration deep space missions, the crew will need to be able to exit out of the docking hatch if wave heights in the Pacific Ocean upon splashdown are too high. The work is being done to help ensure all elements of Orion's design are safe and effective for the crew to use on future missions on the journey to Mars.
Machining of the tunnel, aft bulkhead, and barrel for the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel takes place at Ingersoll Machine Tool, Inc. in Rockford, Illinois on Sept. 28, 2020.
Teams perform a series of tests at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Oct. 7, 2015, to evaluate the most efficient way for astronauts to get out of the Orion spacecraft after weeks or months away from Earth. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
Engineers and astronauts conduct testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on July 28, 2016 to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations. ..While the crew will primarily use the side hatch for entry and exit on Earth and the docking hatch to travel between Orion and a habitation module on long-duration deep space missions, the crew will need to be able to exit out of the docking hatch if wave heights in the Pacific Ocean upon splashdown are too high. The work is being done to help ensure all elements of Orion's design are safe and effective for the crew to use on future missions on the journey to Mars.
#NASAMarsDay
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
In Rockford, Illinois, Ingersoll Machine Tools builds parts for the Artemis II Orion crew module, shown here on April 13, 2017, which will carry humans beyond Earth orbit.
#NASAMarsDay
NASA’s Orion spacecraft–the crew module and European-built service module—is being lifted on Dec. 1, 2019 into a thermal cage and readied for its move into the vacuum chamber at NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio (formerly Plum Brook Station) for testing. Testing begins with a 60-day thermal test, where the spacecraft will be subjected to temperatures ranging from -250 to 300-degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it can withstand the harsh environment of space during Artemis missions. These extreme temperatures simulate flying in-and-out of sunlight and shadow in space using Heat Flux, a specially-designed system that heats specific parts of the spacecraft at any given time. Orion will also be surrounded on all sides by a set of large panels, called a cryogenic-shroud, that will provide the cold background temperatures of space.
The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.
From Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Orion team conducted the successful flight test of the Launch Abort System on Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) on July 2, 2019.
In Rockford, Illinois, Ingersoll Machine Tools builds parts for the Artemis II Orion crew module, shown here on April 13, 2017, which will carry humans beyond Earth orbit.
The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission, fully assembled with its launch abort system, is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 20, 2021. The stacking of Orion on top of the SLS completes assembly for the Artemis I flight test. Teams will begin conducting a series of verification tests ahead of rolling out to Launch Complex 39B for the Wet Dress Rehearsal.
After arriving from New Orleans by Super Guppy, Artemis I Orion is moved to the work stand at the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 2, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
First weld of Orion Exploration Mission 1 crew module
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are testing the spacesuit astronauts will wear in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on trips to deep space. On June 22, 2017, members of the Johnson team participated in a Vacuum Pressure Integrated Suit Test to verify enhancements to the suit will meet test and design standards for the Orion spacecraft. During this test, the suit is connected to life support systems and then air is removed from Johnson’s 11-foot thermal vacuum chamber to evaluate the performance of the suits in conditions similar to a spacecraft. The suit will contain all the necessary functions to support life and is being designed to enable spacewalks and sustain the crew in the unlikely event the spacecraft loses pressure. Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
An Orion cone panel for Artemis I is prepared for welding at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana on Oct. 9, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
First weld of Orion Exploration Mission 1 crew module
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
The team at Kennedy Space Center prepares the Artemis I Orion for transport from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be stacked atop the Launch Abort System.
First weld of Orion Exploration Mission 1 crew module
A successful test is completed of the European Structural Test Article (E-STA) partial tank vibration test (Y- axis at 80% power) performed on the Mechanical Vibration Facility (MVF) table at NASA Glenn’s Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station, Sandusky, Ohio on Sept. 7, 2016 . Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
Machining of the tunnel, aft bulkhead, and barrel for the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel takes place at Ingersoll Machine Tool, Inc. in Rockford, Illinois on Sept. 28, 2020.
In Rockford, Illinois, Ingersoll Machine Tools builds parts for the Artemis II Orion crew module, shown here on April 13, 2017, which will carry humans beyond Earth orbit.
#NASAMarsDay
#NASAMarsDay
In Rockford, Illinois, Ingersoll Machine Tools builds parts for the Artemis II Orion crew module, shown here on April 13, 2017, which will carry humans beyond Earth orbit.
The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.
#NASAMarsDay
The ESA service module assembly continues at Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, Germany on June 7, 2017.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
NASA's Super Guppy airplane arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana on Jan. 31, 2016. The Guppy will transport Orion's Artemis I crew module pressure vessel to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
Machining of the tunnel, aft bulkhead, and barrel for the Artemis III Orion pressure vessel takes place at Ingersoll Machine Tool, Inc. in Rockford, Illinois on Sept. 28, 2020.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
#NASAMarsDay
The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
First weld of Orion Exploration Mission 1 crew module
From Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Orion team conducted the successful flight test of the Launch Abort System on Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) on July 2, 2019.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft–the crew module and European-built service module—is being lifted on Dec. 1, 2019 into a thermal cage and readied for its move into the vacuum chamber at NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio (formerly Plum Brook Station) for testing. Testing begins with a 60-day thermal test, where the spacecraft will be subjected to temperatures ranging from -250 to 300-degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it can withstand the harsh environment of space during Artemis missions. These extreme temperatures simulate flying in-and-out of sunlight and shadow in space using Heat Flux, a specially-designed system that heats specific parts of the spacecraft at any given time. Orion will also be surrounded on all sides by a set of large panels, called a cryogenic-shroud, that will provide the cold background temperatures of space.
The first welded part of Artemis I Orion, the forward bulkhead and tunnel, is moved into final tooling at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana on Oct. 12, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
Technicians used a 30-ton crane to lift NASA’s Orion spacecraft on Friday, June 28, 2024, from the Final Assembly and System Testing (FAST) cell to the altitude chamber inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft, which will be used for the Artemis II mission to orbit the Moon, underwent leak checks and end-to-end performance verification of the vehicle’s subsystems.
A group of U.S. Navy divers, Air Force pararescumen and Coast Guard rescue swimmers practice Orion underway recovery techniques this week in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Sept. 21, 2016, to prepare for the first test flight of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft with the agency’s Space Launch System rocket during Artemis I.Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
First weld of Orion Exploration Mission 1 crew module
Teams perform a series of tests at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Oct. 7, 2015, to evaluate the most efficient way for astronauts to get out of the Orion spacecraft after weeks or months away from Earth. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
Engineers prepare to test the parachute system for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona on Aug. 24, 2015. During the test, planned for Wednesday, Aug. 26, a C-17 aircraft will carry a representative Orion capsule to 35,000 feet in altitude and then drop it from its cargo bay. Engineers will test a scenario in which one of Orion’s two drogue parachutes, used to stabilize it in the air, does not deploy, and one of its three main parachutes, used to slow the capsule during the final stage of descent, also does not deploy. The risky test will provide data engineers will use as they gear up to qualify Orion’s parachutes for missions with astronauts. On Aug. 24, a C-17 was loaded with the test version of Orion, which has a similar mass and interfaces with the parachutes as the Orion being developed for deep space missions but is shorter on top to fit inside the aircraft. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
NASA’s Orion spacecraft–the crew module and European-built service module—is being lifted on Dec. 1, 2019 into a thermal cage and readied for its move into the vacuum chamber at NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio (formerly Plum Brook Station) for testing. Testing begins with a 60-day thermal test, where the spacecraft will be subjected to temperatures ranging from -250 to 300-degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it can withstand the harsh environment of space during Artemis missions. These extreme temperatures simulate flying in-and-out of sunlight and shadow in space using Heat Flux, a specially-designed system that heats specific parts of the spacecraft at any given time. Orion will also be surrounded on all sides by a set of large panels, called a cryogenic-shroud, that will provide the cold background temperatures of space.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are testing the spacesuit astronauts will wear in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on trips to deep space. On June 22, 2017, members of the Johnson team participated in a Vacuum Pressure Integrated Suit Test to verify enhancements to the suit will meet test and design standards for the Orion spacecraft. During this test, the suit is connected to life support systems and then air is removed from Johnson’s 11-foot thermal vacuum chamber to evaluate the performance of the suits in conditions similar to a spacecraft. The suit will contain all the necessary functions to support life and is being designed to enable spacewalks and sustain the crew in the unlikely event the spacecraft loses pressure. Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
The ESA service module assembly continues at Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, Germany on June 7, 2017.
Engineers prepare to test the parachute system for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona on Aug. 24, 2015. During the test, planned for Wednesday, Aug. 26, a C-17 aircraft will carry a representative Orion capsule to 35,000 feet in altitude and then drop it from its cargo bay. Engineers will test a scenario in which one of Orion’s two drogue parachutes, used to stabilize it in the air, does not deploy, and one of its three main parachutes, used to slow the capsule during the final stage of descent, also does not deploy. The risky test will provide data engineers will use as they gear up to qualify Orion’s parachutes for missions with astronauts. On Aug. 24, a C-17 was loaded with the test version of Orion, which has a similar mass and interfaces with the parachutes as the Orion being developed for deep space missions but is shorter on top to fit inside the aircraft. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
After arriving from New Orleans by Super Guppy, Artemis I Orion is moved to the work stand at the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 2, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
A group of U.S. Navy divers, Air Force pararescumen and Coast Guard rescue swimmers practice Orion underway recovery techniques this week in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Sept. 21, 2016, to prepare for the first test flight of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft with the agency’s Space Launch System rocket during Artemis I. Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
The team at Kennedy Space Center prepares the Artemis I Orion for transport from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be stacked atop the Launch Abort System.
The Artemis I Orion crew module pressure vessel is loaded on NASA's Super Guppy plane in New Orleans for transport to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 1, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
The Artemis I Orion spacecraft is moved out of the Final Assembly And Test (FAST) cell at Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for transport to Multi Payload Processing Facility on Jan. 14, 2021.
At Kennedy Space Center, the Artemis I Orion is transported from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building on Oct. 19, 2021, ahead of stacking on the Space Launch System rocket.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
NASA's Super Guppy airplane arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana on Jan. 31, 2016. The Guppy will transport Orion's Artemis I crew module pressure vessel to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
The pressure vessel for the Artemis III mission arrives at Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 19, 2021. The pieces for the pressure vessel were machined at AMRO in California and Ingersoll Machine Tools Inc. in Illinois and welded at the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana.
The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
The first welded part of Artemis I Orion, the forward bulkhead and tunnel, is moved into final tooling at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana on Oct. 12, 2015. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on November 11, 2019. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
The Artemis I vehicle, with the Orion spacecraft atop, rolls for wet dress rehearsal from the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on March 17, 2022. At the pad, the vehicle will undergo checkouts and teams will practice countdown to ensure the stack is ready for launch.
#NASAMarsDay
Vice President Mike Pence visited and gave remarks in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 20, 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the agency’s Apollo 11 Moon landing and announce to America the completion of NASA’s Orion crew capsule, shown here on July 19, 2019, for the first Artemis lunar mission.
The Artemis I Orion crew module pressure vessel is loaded on NASA's Super Guppy plane in New Orleans for transport to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 1, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
Engineers and technicians at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are testing the spacesuit astronauts will wear in the agency’s Orion spacecraft on trips to deep space. On June 22, 2017, members of the Johnson team participated in a Vacuum Pressure Integrated Suit Test to verify enhancements to the suit will meet test and design standards for the Orion spacecraft. During this test, the suit is connected to life support systems and then air is removed from Johnson’s 11-foot thermal vacuum chamber to evaluate the performance of the suits in conditions similar to a spacecraft. The suit will contain all the necessary functions to support life and is being designed to enable spacewalks and sustain the crew in the unlikely event the spacecraft loses pressure. Part of Batch images transfer from Flickr.
#NASAMarsDay
The crew module adapter, which connects Orion's crew module with the European Service module is lifted in preparation for mate with the Artemis II service module on Oct. 19, 2021, which recently arrived from Airbus in Bremen.
The Artemis I Orion crew module pressure vessel is loaded on NASA's Super Guppy plane in New Orleans for transport to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 1, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
In Bremen, Germany the Airbus Space team prepares the Orion European Service Module-2 for shipment to Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 7, 2021. ESM-2 will power Orion on Artemis II, Orion's first flight with crew.
The Artemis I Orion crew module pressure vessel is loaded on NASA's Super Guppy plane in New Orleans for transport to Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 1, 2016. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at Kennedy Space Center, three spacecraft adapter jettison (SAJ) fairings are prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion on Oct. 12, 2020. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.
The team at Kennedy Space Center prepares the Artemis I Orion for transport from the Launch Abort System Facility to the Vehicle Assembly Building where it will be stacked atop the Launch Abort System.