Hardware has Orion’s Parachutes ‘Covered’ for Artemis I Mission Orion’s forward bay, which will protect the spacecraft during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, is installed on Nov. 23, 2020. Affixed to the top of Orion for the Artemis I mission is the shiny, newly installed forward bay cover. This critical piece of hardware will protect the top part of Orion’s crew module as the capsule blazes back through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of more than 25,000 mph. After reentry, jettison mechanisms will generate enough thrust to push the cover away from the spacecraft and allow the three main parachutes to unfurl, stabilizing and slowing the capsule to 20 mph or less for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
Last Updated: Dec. 1, 2020 Editor: Danielle Sempsrott
Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s deep space exploration system: the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration, and demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond. During this flight, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch on the most powerful rocket in the world and travel thousands of miles beyond the Moon, farther than any spacecraft built for humans has ever flown, over the course of about a three-week mission.
Last Updated: Sept. 10, 2019 Editor: Kathryn Hambleton
Update on Orion Final Assembly and Transfer
NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission is completing final assembly at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers recently installed the three spacecraft jettison fairing panels to protect the European Service Module and the forward bay cover, which protects the upper part of Orion including its parachutes throughout its mission. While powering up the spacecraft to prepare for the pressurization of the crew module uprighting system, which ensures the capsule is oriented upward after splashdown, engineers identified an issue with a redundant channel in a power and data unit (PDU) on Orion’s crew module adapter. The team is continuing with other closeout activities while troubleshooting the issue, including installation of temporary covers to ensure components are protected during ground processing and fit checks for bonded tile on the crew module side hatch. Following a resolution of the issue, NASA will transfer Orion from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility where the spacecraft will undergo fueling ahead of stacking with the launch abort system. Check back at this blog for an update and adjusted dates for Orion’s transfer.
The Science Probe 