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Displayed inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are the Orion Crew Modules for Artemis II, Artemis III, Artemis IV, and the European Service Module (ESM).
Airbus built ESM under a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA). The EMS, which also provides water and oxygen to the crew and controls thermal control, propels and maneuvers the Orion spacecraft.
Orion will sit atop NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The Orion spacecraft will then initiate a translunar injection burn and dispatch the crew on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. This crew will be the first astronauts to travel to the Moon's vicinity since Apollo 17 last stepped on the Lunar surface in December 1972.
In April, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the four Artemis II astronauts who will orbit the Moon. The crew consists of NASA commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover, NASA mission specialist Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. The three NASA astronauts have spent many months of experience on the International Space Station, while spaceflight rookie Hansen will be the first Canadian to go beyond Earth orbit.
During a gaggle with a small group of reporters in front of the capsule, the crew was asked about how much input they have on the capsule's design. Pilot Glover said, "A lot of the design aspects are set in integrating and finishing the builds of most of these, but how we use them depends on operational workarounds and constraints. Those are things that we're still developing, and we're very much going to be involved in them. How they put the crew in, this will be the first time we do that in this vehicle."
The crew has been training for five months to prepare for their 10-day journey to the Moon and Back. All the crew members are looking forward to seeing Earth from afar. Wiseman said he's "excited to see Jeremy glued to the window looking back at Earth".
Related Links
Orion at NASA
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more
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