Artemis II Crew Visit

From left, NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Artemis II backup crew member and Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander, practice climbing into an emergency egress basket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. The baskets, similar to gondolas on ski lifts, are used in the case of a pad abort emergency to enable astronauts and other pad personnel a way to quickly escape away from the mobile launcher to the base of the pad and where waiting emergency transport vehicles will then drive them away. For Artemis II, four astronauts will venture around the Moon, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration through Artemis.

From left, NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Artemis II backup crew member and Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman, commander, practice climbing into an emergency egress basket inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. The baskets, similar to gondolas on ski lifts, are used in the case of a pad abort emergency to enable astronauts and other pad personnel a way to quickly escape away from the mobile launcher to the base of the pad and where waiting emergency transport vehicles will then drive them away. For Artemis II, four astronauts will venture around the Moon, the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence for science and exploration through Artemis.

Photographer NASA/Kim Shiflett
Album Artemis_II
Location VAB