7.05.2025
NASA’s Artemis II Orion Spacecraft Ready for Fueling, Processing
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II crewed mission around the Moon has been on the move. Technicians relocated the spacecraft May 5 from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it was assembled, to its fueling facility at the spaceport.
“With the Artemis II mission on the horizon, seeing the Orion spacecraft depart the Operations and Checkout building for the Kennedy Space Center’s Multi-Payload Processing Facility reflects the many months of hard work, dedication, collaboration, and innovation of the entire team” said Howard Hu, NASA’s Orion program manager. “It demonstrates our ability to achieve ambitious goals to enable a safe and successful Artemis II mission. The Orion team was proud to turn over the first human-rated deep space exploration spacecraft in over 50 years to Exploration Ground Systems for fueling and stacking for our next mission to the Moon.”
Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, engineers and technicians from NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program will load Orion’s propellants, high pressure gases, coolant, and other fluids the spacecraft and crew will need to maneuver and carry out their 10-day journey. Because of the hazardous nature of propellant loading, the spacecraft is fueled remotely from the spaceport’s Launch Control Center. After fueling is complete, the Artemis II crew will participate in an equipment interface test, in which they will don their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits and enter the spacecraft to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission.
Following servicing and final checkouts, the spacecraft will be transported to Kennedy’s Launch Abort System Facility to be integrated with its launch abort system, which is made up of abort, jettison, and attitude control motors and fairings. The system is designed to carry the crew to safety in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent atop the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Once completed, the spacecraft will be transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building to be stacked atop SLS.
Orion’s relocation marks completion of a phase of assembly and testing work for Orion and the beginning of key steps toward launch and mission preparations. While in the operations and checkout facility, thousands of components in Orion’s systems were integrated into the spacecraft. The crew module, service module, and crew module adapter were connected, and vacuum and acoustics testing occurred to ensure the spacecraft will be able to endure the harsh environment of space.
The Artemis II test flight will take commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) around the Moon and return them safely back home. The mission is the first crewed flight under NASA’s Artemis campaign and is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 14.05.2025
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NASA Goes Live on Twitch: Design Artemis II Moon Mascot
NASA will host a live Twitch event to highlight the ongoing Moon Mascot Challenge, which invites the public to design a zero gravity indicator for the agency’s Artemis II crewed test flight around the Moon. Viewers will have the opportunity to provide real-time input to an artist who will create an example of a zero gravity indicator during the livestream.
Zero gravity indicators are small, plush items carried aboard spacecraft to provide a visual indication of when the crew reaches space.
The event will begin at 3 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 13, on the agency’s official Twitch channel:
The contest invites global creators of all ages to submit design ideas for a zero gravity indicator that will fly aboard the agency’s Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.
Up to 25 finalists, including entries from a K-12 student division, will be selected. The Artemis II crew will choose one design that NASA’s Thermal Blanket Lab will fabricate to fly alongside the crew in the Orion spacecraft.
During this Twitch event, NASA experts will discuss the Moon Mascot Challenge while the artist incorporates live audience feedback into a sample design. Although the design example will not be eligible for the contest, it will demonstrate how challenge participants can develop their own zero gravity indicator designs. The example will be shared on the @NASAArtemis social media accounts following the Twitch event.
The Artemis II test flight will take NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back. The mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface to help the agency prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 31.05.2025
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Integrated Testing on Horizon for Artemis II Launch Preparations
Teams responsible for preparing and launching Artemis II at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida are set to begin a series of integrated tests to get ready for the mission. With the upper stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) integrated with other elements of the rocket, engineers are set to start the tests to confirm rocket and ground systems are working and communicating as planned.
While similar to the integrated testing campaign conducted for NASA’s uncrewed Artemis I test flight, engineers have added tests ahead of Artemis II to prepare for NASA’s first crewed flight under the Artemis campaign – an approximately 10-day journey by four astronauts around the Moon and back. The mission is another step toward missions on the lunar surface and helping the agency prepare for future astronaut missions to Mars.
Interface Verification Testing
Verifies the functionality and interoperability of interfaces across elements and systems. Teams will conduct this test from the firing room in the Launch Control Center and perform health and status checks of various systems and interfaces between the SLS core stage, the solid rocket boosters, and the ground systems. It will ensure different systems, including core stage engines and booster thrust control, work as planned. Teams also will perform the same series of tests with the interim cryogenic propulsion stage and Orion before conducting a final interface test with all segments.
Program Specific Engineering Test
Teams will conduct separate engineering tests for the core stage, rocket boosters, and upper stage following the interface verification tests for each part of the rocket.
End-to-End Communications Testing
Integrated test of SLS core and upper stages, and Orion command and telemetry radio frequencies with mission control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to demonstrate flight controllers’ ability to communicate with the ground systems and infrastructure. This test uses a radio frequency antenna in the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), another near the launch pad that will cover the first few minutes of launch, as well as a radio frequency that use the Tracking Data Relay Satellite and the Deep Space Network. Teams will do two versions of this test – one with the ground equipment communicating with a radio and telemetry station for checkouts, and one with all the hardware and equipment communicating with communications infrastructure like it will on launch day.
Countdown Demonstration Test
Teams will conduct a launch day demonstration with the Artemis II astronauts to test launch countdown procedures and make any final necessary adjustments ahead of launch. This test will be divided into two parts. The first will be conducted while SLS and Orion are in the VAB and include the Artemis II crew departing their crew quarters after suiting up at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building and driving to the VAB where they will enter Orion like they will on launch day and practice getting strapped in. Part two will be completed once the rocket is at the launch pad and will allow the astronauts and Artemis launch team to practice how to use the emergency egress system, which would be used in the event of an unlikely emergency at the launch pad during launch countdown.
Flight Termination System End-to-End Test
Test to ensure the rocket’s flight termination system can be activated in the event of an emergency. For public safety, all rockets are required to have a flight termination system. This test will be divided into two parts inside the VAB. The first will take place ahead of Orion getting stacked atop SLS and the second will occur before the rocket and spacecraft roll out to the launch pad.
Wet Dress Rehearsal
Teams will practice loading cryogenic liquid propellant inside SLS once it’s at the launch pad and run through the launch countdown sequences just prior to engine ignition. The rehearsal will run the Artemis II launch team through operations to load liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the rocket’s tanks, conduct a full launch countdown, demonstrate the ability to recycle the countdown clock, and also drain the tanks to give them an opportunity to practice the timelines and procedures they will use for launch.
Teams will load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic, or super cold, propellants into the rocket at the launch pad on the mobile launcher according to the detailed timeline they will use on the actual launch day. They will practice every phase of the countdown, including weather briefings, pre-planned holds in the countdown, conditioning and replenishing the propellants as needed, and validation checks. The Artemis II crew will not participate in the rehearsal.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 15.06.2025
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NASA’s Artemis Science Team Inaugurates Flight Control Room
In early June, NASA’s Artemis II lunar science team ran a mission simulation for the first time in the newly completed Science Evaluation Room (SER) at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The team of scientists used the simulation to test how they will work together to lead lunar science activities during Artemis II and future crewed missions to the Moon.
The inaugural simulation marked a major milestone for Artemis science operations. Located in the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, the SER supports the mission’s main flight control room for lunar science and planetary observations. Built specifically for Artemis missions with these science priorities in mind, the SER is equipped to support rapid data interpretation, collaborative analysis, real-time decision making, and seamless coordination between the science and operations teams.
“Embedding science directly into the mission operations environment ensures NASA can maximize Artemis discoveries,” said Kelsey Young, NASA’s Artemis II lunar science lead and lead science officer at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Seeing the SER and collaborative teams function so beautifully after years of planning and testing makes me even more excited for the science we will accomplish when we return to the Moon.”
Artemis II astronauts will observe the Moon during their 10-day mission around the Moon and back, taking photographs and verbally recording what they see. Their observations will support science objectives and provide data for potential landing sites for future Moon missions.
While the team has run previous simulations, this was the first time they focused on lunar science and planetary observations in the actual rooms they will use during Artemis missions. This gave them the opportunity to test technologies, processes, and the setup of the science support rooms in a real-world scenario. The science team tested processes for prioritizing imaging targets, creating a timeline for observations, and processing incoming data in real time.
The SER’s innovative layout is designed to enhance collaboration and decision making. A large touchscreen table sits front and center in the room as the home base for the scrum team, a small group of scientists focused on making sure specific science objectives are met. Surrounding the scrum in a U-shape is the “trench,” home to experts in data visualization, geography, crew imagery, and timeline management. Behind the trench is a row for science operations support team leadership. First is the SER lead, who manages the activities of the room. Next is the SER Com, the sole person who communicates out of the room to the Science Officer in the Flight Control Room of Mission Control. Additional stations support the Crew Lunar Observations team and IT asset management.
Beyond its technical capabilities, the SER also incorporates visual design elements meant to inspire. A bold blue line near the ceiling symbolizes Earth, while the room’s carpeting – patterned in gray, blue, and red – depicts a two-dimensional projection of the crystalline structure of anorthite, the Moon’s dominant mineral. Together, they give the sensation of standing on the Moon while looking back at Earth.
Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Quelle: NASA