NASA showed a spacecraft that will take astronauts to the moon for the first time in 50 years – News

Orion spacecraft

NASA

NASA has released new images of the Orion spacecraft, which will fly to the Moon as part of the Artemis-2 mission, which will launch no earlier than September 2025 with four astronauts on board.

The interior of the “Orion” cabin is being finalized at the Launch Control Center of the Kennedy Space Center in the state of Florida (USA). Teams are also “installing protective back panels and insulation on the exterior, as well as preparing Orion for vacuum testing this spring.” declared representatives of NASA, writes Space.

The four Artemis-2 astronauts are NASA commander Reed Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover (who will be the first black person to leave low Earth orbit), NASA specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to fly to the moon) and Canadian Space Agency specialist Jeremy Hansen (the first non-American).

The Orion spacecraft has already been in space twice, but in missions without a crew, without installed life support components.

The first was the Artemis 1 mission to a lunar orbit in late 2022 and a short trip to Earth orbit in 2014.

“Artemis-2” will be the first mission, as part of which it is planned to land people on the moon. Both Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 were delayed in January 2024 due to several technical issues, with Artemis 2 pushed back nine months to September 2025 and Artemis 3 about a year to 2026.

The Artemis program aims to build a settlement on the south pole of the Moon to take advantage of the water resources there. More than 30 countries, including Canada, have signed agreements led by NASA to abide by the rules of peaceful space exploration and, in some cases, provide equipment for missions to the moon.

It will be recalled that NASA postponed the launch of “Artemis-1” as part of the first mission to the moon in 50 years due to problems with the engine.