Artemis II Crew, Recovery Teams Train for Final Phase of Moon Mission

Credit: NASA/Kenny Allen NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover is assisted by U.S. Navy personnel as he exits a mockup of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean during training Feb. 25, while his crewmates look on. The Artemis II crew and a team from NASA and the Department of Defense are spending several days at sea to test the procedures and tools that will be used to help the crew to safety when they splash down in the ocean at the end of their 10-day, 685,000-mile journey…

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NASA Invites Media to Speak with Artemis II Moon Crew, Recovery Team

Naval helicopters fly over a test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and personnel involved in training activities in the Pacific Ocean in July 2023, in preparation for Artemis II. Teams from NASA, including the Artemis II crew, and the Department of Defense are training this month off the coast of San Diego to prepare to recover the astronauts and Orion when they return to Earth. Credits: NASA/Kenny Allen Media are invited to speak with the four Artemis II astronauts on Wednesday, Feb. 28, at Naval Base San Diego in California.…

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Signing Our Names

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission received its latest makeover. Teams adhered the agency’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA (European Space Agency) insignia on the spacecraft’s crew module adapter on Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA/Rad Sinyak NASA’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA’s (European Space Agency) insignia are painted on the Orion spacecraft’s crew module adapter in this image from Feb. 1, 2024. The adapter houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes…

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Artemis Teams Install Emergency Escape Baskets at NASA Kennedy

Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program began installing the four emergency egress baskets at Launch Pad 39B in preparation for NASA’s Artemis II crewed mission at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the event of an emergency at the pad during the launch countdown, these baskets, similar to gondolas on ski lifts, will take the astronauts and pad personnel safely from the mobile launcher to the base of the pad where emergency transport vehicles will drive them away.  Following installation, teams will thoroughly test the baskets by…

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NASA’s Artemis I Spacecraft Prepped to Depart to Ohio Facility

Technicians inside NASA’s Kennedy Space Centers Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) in Florida use a crane to load the Artemis I spacecraft – now called an environmental test article – into the crew module transportation fixture in preparation for its departure to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. NASA/Kim Shiflett From Florida to the Moon and back, NASA’s Orion spacecraft is still making moves. The crew module that flew more than 1.4 million miles during the agency’s historic Artemis I mission is getting ready for its next destination –…

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Artemis II Crew Visits White House

NASA / Bill Ingalls Artemis II crew members (from left) CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman pose for a group photograph after their meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Dec. 14, 2023. The crew will travel aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft on a 10-day mission around the Moon, testing spacecraft systems for the first time with astronauts for long-term exploration and scientific discovery. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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Kennedy Space Center Looks Ahead to a Busy Year in 2024

The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, rolls out from its park site location to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2023 for testing ahead of the agency’s Artemis II mission. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Another jam-packed year is in store for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the momentum of a busy 2023 is carried forward into the new year. On the horizon are missions to the Moon, more crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station, and several upgrade projects across…

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Artemis II Crew Trains for Emergency Scenarios Ahead of Moon Mission

Credit: NASA/James Blair The four Artemis II astronauts practiced procedures to exit the Orion spacecraft in an emergency during training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Dec. 15. NASA astronaut Christina Koch (foreground) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen were assisted by Bill Owens, Artemis II spacesuit technician. The training included exiting both the side and top hatches of the spacecraft to ensure the crew will be ready for potential emergency scenarios upon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean that would require them to leave the capsule…

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NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Top 20 Stories of 2023

Here’s a look back at 2023’s most significant events at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida: JANUARYDay of Remembrance Marks 20th Anniversary of Columbia Tragedy  NASA senior management and guests paid tribute to the crew members of space shuttle Columbia, as well as other astronauts who perished in the line of duty, during the agency’s Annual Day of Remembrance held at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.    NASA’s Day of Remembrance NASA/Kim Shiflett JANUARYFacilities, Spacecraft Prepped for Artemis II Mission  Teams with Exploration Ground Systems began upgrading and modifying facilities…

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Artemis II Booster Surges Ahead at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center 

Engineers and technicians process the right forward center segment of the Space Launch System solid rocket boosters for the Artemis II mission inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2023. Inside the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians process the right forward center segment of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Nov. 28, 2023. The ongoing processing of the segments is the first step before stacking operations begin…

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