The 4 crewmembers of NASA’s subsequent moon mission are transferring nearer to their upcoming launch.
The Artemis 2 crew consists of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist) and the Canadian House Company’s Jeremy Hansen. After experiencing a number of delays, the quartet is scheduled to launch no earlier than April 2026 on their 10-day mission across the moon and again. With simply months left earlier than the historic launch, the Artemis crew is difficult at work ending their coaching and preparations. As a part of that coaching, the entire crew suited up of their launch and entry fits to enter their Orion spacecraft collectively for the primary time on July 31 at NASA’s Kennedy House Middle (KSC) in Florida throughout what is named a suited crew check.
Earlier than the check even started, the crewmembers have been sharing their pleasure in regards to the milestone. “We’re excited that immediately is the primary time that we’ll all be within the car since it has been on this facility, and we’ll be in there collectively, which is de facto thrilling. That is a primary throughout,” Koch instructed reporters throughout a press gaggle at KSC on July 31. “A few of us have had totally different alternatives to work together with flight {hardware} on totally different journeys, and clearly that is all the time an unbelievable day. However if you’re in your launch and entry fits, you are with the crew you are going to be on the pad with, that’s completely phenomenal.”
The suited crew check noticed Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen meet up on the Multi-Operation Assist Constructing at KSC to swimsuit up of their Orion crew survival system spacesuits, the identical ones they may put on on launch day. From there, the crew traveled to a special constructing, the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, to enter the Orion crew capsule collectively.
Orion was powered on with the crew inside, giving them a sense for what they will truly expertise on launch day. They have been plugged into the capsule’s life help and communications techniques in addition to given a wide range of simulated floor and flight circumstances. These included placing the crew by difficult eventualities reminiscent of sudden leaks or life help system malfunctions. The objective was to assist “make sure the crew is prepared for any situation,” NASA wrote in a statement.
As soon as out of their launch and entry fits, the crew additionally practiced actions they are going to be known as upon to do as soon as they’re in Orion and on the best way to the moon, reminiscent of stowing unneeded launch gear. The crew additionally familiarized themselves with the procedures they will use throughout their 10-day mission reminiscent of these relating to sleep preparations and the “hygiene bay” contained in the spacecraft.
Artemis 2 has some large footwear to fill. Not solely is it the primary crewed flight to the moon since Apollo 17 and the farthest people have flown from Earth for the reason that fateful Apollo 13 mission, however it is going to additionally comply with the success of 2022’s Artemis 1 mission. Artemis 1 noticed NASA’s large House Launch System rocket take off successfully on its first flight to ship the Orion capsule to orbit across the moon then land in the Pacific Ocean after a 25.5-day journey.
In response to Koch, that success units a excessive bar for her and her crewmates. “Ever since we have been chosen as crew — and it has been on posters round all of the facilities — that in some methods, the large success of Artemis 1 is definitely one thing we’d like to consider as a threat or perhaps a risk to Artemis 2, as a result of now we have to maintain our vigilance up,” Koch stated in the course of the July 31 press gaggle.
“I might say one of many issues we discovered is that regardless of our successes, now we have to maintain asking laborious questions, and now we have to maintain tracing down issues which might be performing like we do not count on.”