NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft, carrying the agency’s Orion spacecraft, prepares to touchdown at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at Kennedy Space Center on March 25, 2020. Orion is arriving from NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, following testing that verified it can handle the extreme conditions of a deep-space environment. After landing at the Florida spaceport, the spacecraft will be transported to the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for final testing and assembly before it can be integrated with the Space Launch System rocket. Orion will fly on the agency’s Artemis I mission – the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will ultimately lead to the exploration of Mars.

NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft, carrying the Orion spacecraft, lands at the Launch and Landing Facility runway at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 25, 2020. Orion has returned to Kennedy after testing at the agency’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio verified the spacecraft can handle the extreme conditions of a deep-space environment. The spacecraft will now undergo final testing and assembly prior to being integrated with the Space Launch System rocket. Orion will fly on the agency’s Artemis I mission – the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will ultimately lead to the exploration of Mars.

Photographer NASA/Kim Shiflett

Location Launch and Landing Facility, KSC

Date March 25, 2020

Artemis Artemis I CSM Guppy Moon to Mars NASA Super Guppy Orion Orion Crew and Service Module crew module service module

Orion Artemis I Crew and Service Module Return to Kennedy - Arrival