The Artemis II astronauts that can be the primary crew to fly across the Moon in 50 years got a peek at their spacecraft yesterday.
Visiting NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the crew checked out their ride that’s currently undergoing acoustic testing on the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Constructing. Once this testing is complete, the ultimate assembly of the spacecraft will begin ahead of its planned launch no sooner than November 2024.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Once accomplished, the Orion spacecraft can be attached to European Service Module that may provide propulsion and power to the Orion capsule.
The mission, which can last ten days for the trip to and across the Moon, moves NASA closer to landing on the Moon through the Artemis III mission. That mission, currently planned for 2025, could have the Orion capsule launch atop the Space Launch System and dock with SpaceX’s Starship, which can be optimized for landing on the Moon. It is feasible that the Lunar Gateway space station can be accomplished by the point Artemis III launches; in that case, Orion will dock there and transfer to Starship.
During yesterday’s news conference with the Artemis II crew and NASA officials, it was mentioned that if major components usually are not ready, they might repurpose the Artemis III mission.
Nonetheless, no specifics got. It’s price noting that neither SpaceX nor NASA has indicated that Starship is not going to be ready, and it might be resulting from other hardware, similar to EVA suits, but again, nothing confirmed as being delayed.
One thing is for certain, each NASA and SpaceX are pushing forward on their path to the Moon, and the Artemis II mission can be incredibly necessary in understanding what it’ll take to get there.