SLS returns to the pad for next Artemis launch attempt

The Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft rolled back out to the launch pad Nov. 4 as the agency prepares for the third attempt to launch the vehicle on Artemis 1 mission later this month. SLS and Orion, on its mobile launch platform, arrived at Launch Complex 39B at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Nov. 4, a little more than nine hours after emerging from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The rollout was the fourth for the vehicle since March. The rollout supports NASA’s plans to conduct the next Artemis 1 launch attempt Nov. 14, with liftoff scheduled at 12:07 a.m. Eastern at the beginning of a 69-minute launch window. Two backup windows are reserved for Nov. 16 and Nov. 19. In a Nov, 3 call with reporters, Jim Free, associate administrator for exploration systems development, said managers gave the go-ahead for the rollout after reviewing weather forecasts that show the risk of a tropical storm system forming and heading towards Florida early next week. “Our engineering team thought it was an OK risk to go out tonight,” he said. Mark Burger, launch weather officer with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Launch Delta 45, said there is only a 30% chance of the system becoming a named storm, with peak wind gusts not expected to exceed 74 kilometers per hour. “Those are well within our constraints for riding out” the storm at the pad, he said. “We’ll have impacts from that in terms of the wind, but we’re not looking at any likelihood at this point of see a strong system emerge out of this.” SLS and Orion had been in the VAB since late September, when NASA rolled back to protect the vehicle from Hurricane Ian. Before the storm forced the rollback, agency officials felt they had resolved hydrogen leak problems that scrubbed the previous launch attempt Sept. 3.

The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft emerge from the Vehicle Assembly Building to head to Launch Complex 39B for a Nov. 14 launch. Credit: Jordan Sirokie

The investigation into that leak has not turned up a single clear cause. “There’s not really a smoking gun, per se,” said Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager in NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems program. “We feel pretty confident that, through the loading procedures and controlling the pressures, we understand it much better now.”

“Our teams have continued to grow and learn about the vehicle, and we’re confident,” said Free, who added he felt they had three good opportunities to launch. “But, it’s a flight test.”

“What we’ve learned in every wet dress [rehearsal], our two launch attempts and our tanking test help build our confidence,” he said. “I don’t think we would roll out if we didn’t feel confident.”

If the vehicle does not launch by Nov. 19, there is a fourth possible launch window on Nov. 25. Beyond that, Free said NASA would likely leave the vehicle on the pad and wait until the next launch period opens in December, which would require getting waivers from the Eastern Range for the SLS flight termination system, much like what happened in September.

December also marks the deadline for the lifetime of the two solid rocket boosters. Lanham said that the boosters, which originally had a 12-month life when they were stacked in early 2021, have been certified through Dec. 9 for one booster and Dec. 14 for the other. If the vehicle doesn’t launch by then, Free said, they would do another “analysis cycle” on the boosters to see if their lives can be further extended.

Northrop Grumman snags $187 million to design NASA's lunar Gateway habitat for astronauts

NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman $187 million to design the habitat module for the space agency's lunar Gateway, a planned moon-orbiting space station for astronauts. We learned last year that NASA had tapped Virginia-based Northrop Grumman to build Gateway's pressurized crew cabin, called the habitation and logistics outpost (HALO). The company will base HALO on its Cygnus spacecraft, which has been flying contracted robotic cargo missions to the International Space Station for NASA since 2014. On Friday (June 5), the space agency announced some terms of the deal: Northrop Grumman will receive $187 million to fund HALO's design through a key milestone called preliminary design review, which is expected to be complete by the end of this year. "This contract award is another significant milestone in our plan to build robust and sustainable lunar operations," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement. "The Gateway is a key component of NASA’s long-term Artemis architecture, and the HALO capability furthers our plans for human exploration at the moon in preparation for future human missions to Mars." Artemis is NASA's program of crewed lunar exploration, which aims to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2024 and establish a sustainable human presence on and around the cosmic body by 2028. As Bridenstine noted, the agency envisions such work paving the way for the next giant leap: getting astronauts to Mars, which NASA aims to do in the 2030s.

Gateway likely won't be involved in the 2024 landing, but NASA sees the mini space station as crucial to its longer-term lunar plans. The outpost will serve as a jumping-off point for sorties, both crewed and uncrewed, to the lunar surface.

The current plan calls for launching Gateway's first two elements — HALO and the power and propulsion element (PPE), which will be built by Maxar Technologies — together in 2023. NASA expects to award Northrop Grumman a second contract by the end of the year, to build HALO and integrate it with the PPE, agency officials said.

Also key to the Artemis vision are NASA's Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket, which together will get astronauts off the ground and on their way to deep space.

Orion has one flight under its belt, an uncrewed test mission to Earth orbit that took place in December 2014. SLS has not launched yet; it's scheduled to debut late next year on the Artemis 1 mission, which will send an uncrewed Orion on a test flight around the moon.

Orion will provide life support for astronauts aboard the Gateway, along with HALO, which will provide about as much living space as a small studio apartment.


Gateway, and the Artemis program overall, will leverage considerable cooperation from partners in the international community and the private sector. For example, the European Space Agency will provide Orion's service module, and the landers that ferry NASA astronauts from the outpost to the lunar surface will be privately built.

Airbus wins ESA contract to construct third European Service Module for NASA's Orion spacecraft

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with Airbus for the construction of the third European Service Module (ESM) for Orion, the American crewed spacecraft. The contract is worth around euro 250 million. By ordering this additional service module, ESA ensures the necessary continuity in NASA's Artemis programme. The third European Service Module (Artemis III Mission) will be used to fly astronauts to Earth's neighbour in space in 2024 - the first to land on the Moon since Apollo 17 following a hiatus of more than 50 years. "Our know-how and expertise will enable us to continue to facilitate future Moon missions through international partnerships," said Andreas Hammer, Head of Space Exloration at Airbus. "By working together with our customers ESA and NASA as well as our industrial partner Lockheed Martin, we now have a reliable planning basis for the first three lunar missions. This contract is an endorsement of the joint approach combining the best of European and American space technologies." David Parker, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, said: "By entering into this agreement, we are again demonstrating that Europe is a strong and reliable partner in Artemis. The European Service Module represents a crucial contribution to this, allowing scientific research, development of key technologies and international cooperation - inspiring missions that expand humankind's presence beyond Low Earth Orbit."

The first non-crewed Orion test flight with a European Service Module (Artemis I) will fly in 2021. It is as part of the following mission, Artemis II, that the first astronauts will then fly around the Moon and back to Earth.

The ESM will provide propulsion, power, air and water for the astronauts, as well as thermal control of NASA's new spacecraft.

More than 20,000 parts and components are used in each ESM, from electrical equipment to engines, solar panels, fuel tanks and life support supplies for the astronauts, as well as approximately 12 kilometres of cables.

The first service module was delivered to NASA in November 2018 and has already been mated with the Crew Module. The fully integrated spacecraft already finished the thermal-vacuum testing at NASA's facility in Ohio, USA, and returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, while the second service module is now being integrated and tested by Airbus in Bremen, with delivery set for the first half of 2021.

During the development and construction of the ESM, Airbus has drawn on its experience as prime contractor for ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), which provided the crew on board the International Space Station with regular deliveries of test equipment, spare parts, food, air, water and fuel.

The ESM is cylindrical in shape and about four metres in diameter and height. It has four solar arrays (19 metres across when unfurled) that generate enough energy to power two households. The service module's 8.6 tonnes of fuel can power one main engine and 32 smaller thrusters.

The ESM weighs a total of just over 13 tonnes. In addition to its function as the main propulsion system for the Orion spacecraft, the ESM will be responsible for orbital manoeuvring and position control. It also provides the crew with the central elements of life support such as water and oxygen, and regulates thermal control while docked to the crew module.

Last stop before launch: Orion passes tests and returns to Kennedy Space Center

The Orion spacecraft that will fly on the Artemis 1 mission around the Moon has returned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, after finishing space environment tests. The spacecraft, including ESA's European Service Module, is now at its final destination before launch. Orion spent four months at NASA's Plum Brook station where it was subjected to the vacuum and temperatures of -175C to 75C it will experience on its flight to the Moon. After proving its space-worthiness, the electronics - including the thousands of parameters and functions of the European Service Module that control the engines, electrical power and steering the solar panels to face the Sun - were checked for electromagnetic interference. ESA's Dominique Siruguet from the European Service Module integration and verification team says "The tests were successful and the behaviour of the vehicle was good, passing all requirements." Plum Brook station was chosen for the tests because thermal vacuum and electromagnetic compatibility could be performed in the same facility. This avoided additional transport of Orion, which is the size of a two-story house. Having passed its trials, the spacecraft was wrapped and moved by truck to an airport in Ohio for its return flight on NASA's Super Guppy aircraft.

Adding wings to Orion
The tests are not completely over for Orion, at Kennedy Space Center the crew module will be further prepared and more leak tests conducted. The European Service Module has tanks for fuel, oxygen and water that are critical for the astronauts. The gas tanks are pressurised and are connected to many pipes and valves, so it vital to make sure there are no leaks.

The solar wings that generate power during its mission will be installed, as well as protective covers called the Spacecraft Adapter Jettisoned fairings for the intense moments of launch on the world's most powerful rocket.

Later this year ESA will formally transfer ownership of the European Service Module to NASA and the spacecraft will move into the ground system phase where it will be united with the SLS rocket for a lift-off to the Moon.

Orion is a key component of Artemis 1 - an uncrewed test flight around the Moon that paves the way for the Artemis 3 mission, which will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024. ESA is designing and supplying the European Service Module for the Orion spacecraft. This provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen. It also keeps the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course, propelling it to the Moon and back once it has separated from the launcher.

Artemis I progresses toward launch

The flight hardware has been built, the launch facilities are ready, and NASA and its industry partners are checking off final milestones for the launch that will put America on the path to landing the first woman and next man on the Moon. The Artemis I mission - the culmination of work by people across the country in support of the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion and Exploration Ground System (EGS) programs - will preserve the nation's leadership in human space exploration and set the U.S. on a new journey to explore deep space. "Thanks to the hard work of women and men across our country, NASA's deep space exploration system is the Artemis program's foundation. With their contributions, America leads in human exploration at the Moon and it will be the same for Mars," said NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard. "The success of the Artemis program depends on our suppliers, and we're confident they'll rise to the challenge of our 2024 deadline." The Artemis I team includes five prime contractors and hundreds of suppliers from all 50 states, all of which are committed to the safe and successful launch of the most powerful rocket ever built and the only capsule capable of transporting and sustaining a crew in deep space, as well as successful mission execution and safe return of the lunar orbit mission. Representatives from this team of suppliers will meet in Washington, D.C. this week to share the latest program progress with legislators and highlight the work that is done in their respective states.

The five major industry players that are building and preparing to launch the SLS and Orion spacecraft for NASA's crewed exploration missions include:

+ Aerojet Rocketdyne, which provides the reliable, flight-proven RS-25 and RL10 engines for the core and upper stage that carry SLS and Orion into orbit and on to deep space. It also provides the jettison motor for Orion's Launch Abort System and 21 thrusters on the Orion crew and service modules.

Boeing, which designed, developed, built and is now testing the rocket's massive core stage and avionics, having completed the upper stage last year.

Jacobs, which has modernized and upgraded ground systems and launch facilities at the Kennedy Space Center, and is preparing to integrate and process the SLS and Orion flight hardware for launch.

Lockheed Martin, which has designed and is building the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts out to the Moon and beyond.

Northrop Grumman, which provides the rocket boosters that supply more than 75% of initial required thrust during the first two minutes of flight, as well as the attitude control motor and abort motor for Orion's Launch Abort System.

Recent SLS milestones include production completion of the Artemis I core stage flight hardware for first flight, now at Stennis Space Center for its final major test, called Green Run; delivery of booster aft exit cones to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and completion of booster design certification review and first five-segment booster flight set; completion of the RS-25 engine hot-fire series for the first four SLS flights and attaching the RS-25s to the first core stage for testing. In addition, NASA is completing avionics systems at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center that will control launch and guidance systems for the rocket.

The Artemis I Orion spacecraft is complete and was shipped to NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, in late November for environmental testing to ensure that it can withstand the harsh environment of space on its journey around the Moon and back. In addition, Orion's full launch abort system was successfully tested this past July during a flight test called Ascent Abort-2 in Florida.

At KSC, the EGS team recently completed verification and validation of the modified mobile launcher and Launch Pad 39B systems. The team also received the massive SLS Core Stage Pathfinder at KSC, and conducted a month-long series of exercises in the Vehicle Assembly Building, during which they practiced handling and lifting of the full-scale mockup hardware. In the KSC Launch Control Center, the team is using the upgraded launch control system to complete SLS ground systems checkout and launch team training in the new control room environment.

Upcoming 2020 milestones for launch readiness will see these following programs integrated at KSC:

The SLS rocket booster segments will be delivered to KSC and, along with the booster forward and aft assemblies, will be integrated in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

The core stage and integrated RS-25 engines will complete Green Run testing at Stennis, and refurbishment, before being shipped to KSC for mating with the boosters.

The Orion Artemis I crew and service module will return from Plum Brook Station for final testing and integration prior to launch.

In addition to receiving SLS and Orion hardware for processing and stacking, the EGS team will conduct the Underway Recovery Test-8 in the Pacific Ocean in March, to validate the recovery procedures and operational timelines during a full mission rehearsal of Orion capsule recovery after splashdown.

Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission will send Orion into a lunar distant retrograde orbit - a wide orbit around the Moon that is farther from Earth than any human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled. The uncrewed mission will last more than 20 days and will validate the design and safety of Orion and SLS for human exploration missions to follow.

NASA rings in busy new year in Florida to prepare for Artemis Missions

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will have a busy year preparing facilities, ground support equipment and space hardware for the launch of Artemis I, the first uncrewed launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. In 2020, Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) activities will ramp up as launch hardware arrives and teams put systems in place for Artemis I and II missions. Launch countdown simulations will continue to ramp up in 2020 to train and certify the launch control team for Artemis missions. The types of simulations will build on one another and will walk through the final portions of the launch countdown sequence, called the terminal countdown. Integrated simulations will tie in all NASA centers working the mission to ensure all members of the team are ready to work together, including Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and the SLS Engineering Support Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Simulations will begin at the end of January and will occur up through one week before launch, with an average of one training exercise each month. Much of the work in 2020 will be to complete a punch list of detail work inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This includes cleaning the platforms and making minor repairs to any platform hardware that will be near flight hardware as the facility prepares for arrival of SLS components and stacking operations. "We are at a very significant point in NASA's Artemis mission," said Mike Bolger, program manager of EGS. "The EGS team has finished mobile launcher testing at the launch pad and will finish testing at the VAB in January. At that point, all of the launch infrastructure will be tested and ready for operations."

Launch Complex 39B
Teams will continue work on a new emergency egress system for Pad 39B where flight or ground crew could board a basket with a braking system at the crew access level of the mobile launcher. The crew would ride the basket down a cable and come to a stop near a bunker to the west of the pad surface, providing quick escape in the unlikely event of an emergency. The design phase began in 2019 and construction will be complete in time to support crewed Artemis missions.

The pad is currently getting a liquid hydrogen upgrade. The project involves the integration of a new 1.4 million gallon, liquid hydrogen (LH2) storage sphere into the existing Launch Complex 39B system. The new LH2 sphere will work with the current LH2 sphere to supply LH2 for Artemis II and beyond. The larger tank will allow NASA to attempt SLS launches on three consecutive days, instead of opportunities two out of three days, in the event of a scrub. The newer technology reduces liquid hydrogen burn-off, allowing more launch attempts before having to refill the larger tank. Construction began in 2019 and will be complete prior to Artemis II.

Orion Underway Recovery Test 8
The integrated recovery team of NASA, EGS, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy, along with additional contractor support, will head out to sea off the coast of California in March to conduct the eighth Underway Recovery Test. Using a Navy ship with a well deck and several small boats, the primary objective is to validate Orion recovery operations for Artemis I - including procedures and timelines, and practicing different scenarios.

Orion Spacecraft
This spring, the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I will return from NASA's unique test facility at Plum Brook Station in Ohio, where it is currently undergoing environmental testing inside the vacuum chamber that simulates the harsh environment of space.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O and C) Building at Kennedy, technicians will install the spacecraft's solar array wings before performing final checkouts. EGS will begin Orion ground processing and stacking activities later in the year.

The team will process and fuel Orion in the Multi-Purpose Processing Facility then transfer it over to the Launch Abort System Facility where engineers will attach the launch abort system. Orion will then roll out to the VAB for inspections before stacking Orion on top of the SLS rocket.

In its early processing stages, the Artemis II crew module milestones inside the O and C include propulsion tank installation, a pressure test and subsystems installations in the spring. The initial power-on of the crew module will occur in early fall. The heat shield that will protect the first crewed mission of Orion will be completed and installed by the end of the year. Processing and testing of the crew module adapter - the ring that connects to the European Service Module - for Artemis II will happen in the first half of the year prior to the arrival of the European Service Module in the fall.

Space Launch System
Training activities with pathfinders, or full-scale replicas, of the SLS core stage and booster segments occurred in 2019, and more training with various pathfinder segments and hardware will continue. In 2020, training will involve stacking inert booster segments on the mobile launcher in the VAB.

Hardware for SLS will continue to arrive for processing and integration in various Kennedy facilities. This year all ten of the solid propellant booster segments will arrive by train from their Northrop Grumman manufacturing facility in Promontory, Utah.

The launch vehicle stage adapter, which will connect the SLS core stage to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, will arrive by barge. The booster aft skirts - which contain the thrust vector control system that steers the rocket - will trek from the Booster Fabrication Facility to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility where they will be attached to the aft exit cones.

The exit cones are attached to the bottommost part of each of the twin boosters to provide extra thrust to the boosters and protect the aft skirts from the thermal environment during launch.

The core stage of the SLS rocket will undergo a Green Run test campaign over several months in the B-2 test stand at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Following Green Run completion, the 225,000-pound core stage will leave Stennis and arrive at Kennedy on the Pegasus barge. The core stage and solid rocket boosters will then be integrated inside the VAB.

Mobile Launcher 2
In 2019, NASA awarded a contract for Mobile Launcher 2 to Bechtel National Inc. of Reston, Virginia. The ground structure that will be used to assemble, process and launch the second and more powerful configuration of the SLS rocket, called Block 1B, is in its early stages of design and development and will be ready for Artemis IV.

Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly challenging missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars. In 2020, the mission will truly begin to take shape as hardware arrives and stacking operations begin inside the VAB.

"The operations team is writing procedures, training, and preparing for flight hardware processing," Bolger said. "When the SLS and Orion are turned over to EGS later this year, Kennedy will be ready!"

Future Artemis missions will establish a sustainable presence at the Moon for decades to come, and Kennedy teams will move forward in 2020 to build the infrastructure and make those missions possible.

Orion Test Article on the Move

Engineers recently lifted and moved a full-scale test version of the 13-ton Orion service module in preparation for upcoming pyroshock tests at NASA Glenn's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. During the tests, engineers will fire pyrotechnics to simulate the shocks the service module will experience as Orion separates from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The service module is an essential part of the spacecraft. It will propel, power and cool Orion in addition to providing air and water for the crew. In this time-lapse video, the Plum Brook team removes the test article from the world's most powerful spacecraft vibration table and transports it into the assembly high bay area in Plum Brook's Space Environments Complex. Prior to the move, the test article passed a series of vibration tests to verify that it can withstand the vibrations as it launches and travels into space. A thousand sensors collected data on Orion's service module as it was shaken on a vibration table. This testing simulated how Orion's structure flexed and will stand up to 35 tons of spacecraft weight during a launch. Orion's first flight atop SLS, known as Artemis 1, is targeted to launch in 2020. It will venture tens of thousands of miles beyond the moon. The test article was provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and built by Airbus Defence and Space.

Orion recovery team: ready to 'rock and roll'

A NASA and Department of Defense team returned from a week of training at sea to improve joint landing and recovering operations planned for crew aboard the agency's Orion spacecraft from future deep space exploration missions. Departing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Exploration Ground Systems' team embarked on the USS John P. Murtha, an amphibious U.S. Navy ship, in the Pacific Ocean with the main goal of ensuring all of their recovery equipment was up to the task. This round of testing was known as Underway Recovery Test-7, or URT-7. Recovery ground support equipment includes the Orion Recovery Cradle Assembly, or ORCA, the cradle in which the spacecraft will ultimately set down; winch and rigging lines lovingly referred to as LLAMAs, short for Line Load Attenuating Mechanism Assembly; and even seemingly small items, such as tow pins. But ensuring all of the equipment works as planned and without damage to the spacecraft is no small task. The integrated recovery team worked in tandem to put the equipment through its paces this past week - and NASA's Jeremy Parr, lead design engineer, was on hand to evaluate testing. "We had an amazing week," Parr said when all the testing was done and the ship was headed back to shore. "From start to finish, we had some bumps, we took it slow and had some training days, but by the end of the week we were having almost perfect runs. And that's because of the sailors and LLAMA operators - everyone was working together as a team."

For the past five years, Parr and others have been working on the recovery concept. With the exception of the winch's control system, everything has been designed and built in-house at Kennedy under Parr's leadership - and it all passed muster.

The entire Landing and Recovery Team is led by NASA's Melissa Jones. During URT-7, she was pleased to see all of the team's hard work pay off. "Testing this week has gone extremely well," she said.

The team performed the first complete recovery at night, which lasted until the wee hours of the morning. Jones chocked that up to lessons learned on possible complications of night operations and working with the ship and divers out in the open water in less-than-optimal conditions.

"The team continues to amaze me with their intelligence, determination, and tireless work ethic," Jones said. "A huge thanks to the crew of the USS John P. Murtha for their help and hospitality. The success of this week would not have been possible without their positivity and can-do attitude."

The crew aren't the only ones with a positive attitude. Parr and the rest of the team are heading back to Kennedy with a renewed sense of accomplishment.

"I now have complete confidence in every piece of hardware that we have," Parr said. "We're ready to rock and roll for the recovery of Orion after Exploration Mission-1."

Orion's first Service Module integration complete

Last week at the Airbus integration hall in Bremen, Germany, technicians installed the last radiator on the European Service Module for NASA's Orion spacecraft marking the module's finished integration. ESA's European service module will provide power, water, air and electricity to NASA's Orion exploration spacecraft that will eventually fly beyond the Moon with astronauts. The European Service Module is now complete for Orion's first mission that will do a lunar fly-by without astronauts to demonstrate the spacecraft's capabilities. Much like closing the bonnet on a car, with the radiators in place technicians can no longer access the internals of the European service module, symbolically ending the assembly and integration of the module that will fly further into our Solar System than any other human-rated spacecraft has ever flown before. Technicians worked 24 hours a day in three shifts to complete the service module's assembly which is now going through the last stages of its extensive testing. Engineers will put the module through its paces with functional tests that include checking the newly installed radiators and testing the propulsion system with its intricate pipelines that deliver fuel and oxidiser to the spacecraft's 33 engines. Once complete the service module will be packed and flown to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Orion's solar wings will be shipped separately, also from Bremen. In the USA the module will be stacked together with NASA's Crew Module Adaptor and Crew Module, the first time the complete spacecraft will be on display.

More tests await the Orion spacecraft at NASA's Plum Brook facility where it will be put in the world's largest vacuum chamber to simulate spaceflight as well as being subjected to acoustic tests to simulate the intense vibrations Orion will endure when launched on the world's largest rocket, NASA's Space Launch Systems.

Second module getting ready

Meanwhile technicians in Bremen are not resting as work on the second European Service Module is already well under way. The structure is complete and over 11 km of cables are being meticulously placed in preparation for the computers and equipment that will keep astronauts alive and well for the second Orion mission called Exploration Mission-2.