Tag: Orion
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Lockheed Martin, NASA working around the clock to finish Artemis II Orion assembly and hold 2024 launch date
The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission is nearing final assembly and testing at prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) production facility. After a final standalone test on the Orion crew module (CM), it is expected to be mated to the service module (SM) in mid-September. If there are no problems in…
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NASA’s Artemis II crew meets their Moonship
The three Americans and one Canadian slated to fly on NASA’s Artemis II circumlunar mission had a “pinch me” moment Monday when they got their first chance to visit the Orion spacecraft that will carry them around the Moon and back to Earth. The astronauts had an opportunity to peer through the hatch of the…
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For the first time in 51 years, NASA is training astronauts to fly to the Moon
The four astronauts assigned to soar beyond the far side of the Moon on NASA’s Artemis II mission settled into their seats inside a drab classroom last month at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was one in a series of noteworthy moments for the four-person crew since NASA revealed the names of the…
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With Webb, scientists make first detection of carbon molecule in protoplanetary disk
With new data collected by the joint NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope, an international team of scientists has — for the first time ever — detected a carbon molecule within the protoplanetary disk of a star located in the Orion Nebula. The molecule, called methyl cation (CH3+), is quite unique. The…
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Artemis II Moon mission transitioning from planning to preparation
The first crewed Artemis mission is now the focus of NASA’s beyond-Earth orbit human spaceflight programs. Mission training for the recently-named crew for the Artemis II test flight is expected to begin in June, at just about the time that the mission integration review will be conducted. The space agency has been planning for the…
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EGS launch team applying first SLS launch lessons to future Artemis missions
The NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is now working on collecting, analyzing, and applying lessons learned during the long Artemis I launch processing flow to streamline future launch campaigns, beginning with the launch of the first Artemis crew on the Artemis II mission in a couple of years. The first Space Launch System (SLS)…
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Aerojet Rocketdyne wins $67M contract for Orion thrusters built in Seattle area
An artist’s conception shows the Orion spacecraft’s main engine firing during a lunar flyby, surrounded by eight of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Redmond-built auxiliary engines. (NASA Illustration) Aerojet Rocketdyne says it’s received a $67 million contract award from Lockheed Martin to provide propulsion systems for the Orion spacecraft that’ll carry astronauts to the moon during three missions…
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EGS launch team looking forward to working with Artemis II crew
NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) have been preparing and planning for the Artemis II launch since before the flight crew was announced on April 3. Teams at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida are looking forward to working closely with the four astronauts who will be the first to fly to the Moon in…
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Artemis 2 commander chats with Spaceflight Now
Reid Wiseman, a veteran U.S. Navy test pilot and former chief of NASA’s astronaut corps, will lead the four-person crew assigned to the Artemis 2 mission to carry people to the vicinity of the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. In a joint interview with Spaceflight Now and Space.com, Wiseman…
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EGS Integration Console engineers review Artemis I campaign
The NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program is continuing to review the experiences from the Artemis I launch campaign as teams plan and prepare for Artemis II in a couple of years. History suggested there would be a long ground campaign to the Space Launch System’s (SLS) first liftoff, and a series of issues —…