NASA's Orion Capsule Undergoes Testing for Crewed Mission Return to Earth

Recently, the Orion spacecraft that was part of the Artemis I mission in 2022 made a second round trip when it returned to Ohio for testing. The spacecraft had previously gone around the Moon and back.

The spacecraft is undergoing ground testing at NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, and is now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article. Artemis II, a 10-day flight test planned for 2025 in which four astronauts will showcase the spacecraft's capabilities near the moon, depends on the results of this testing for both safety and success. This will be NASA's first crewed mission as part of the Artemis program.

NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians will subject the test article to the harsh conditions Orion might encounter in the event of a launch abort over the course of the next eight months. Abort-level acoustics, which can reach noise levels of over 160 decibels, louder than a jackhammer, and lightning strikes are two features of the extensive test campaign. Along with the crew module uprighting system and the docking and shielding covers, it also involves the deployment of the spacecraft's five airbags, which inflate upon splashdown. The goal of the test campaign is to make sure Orion is prepared to defend the crew in the event of a launch emergency.

Before its 2022 flight test, this Orion spacecraft underwent months of space environmental testing at Armstrong Test Facility in 2019 and 2020, demonstrating that Ohio is on the route to the moon. The test facility is the only location in the world equipped to test full-scale spacecraft under the harsh circumstances encountered during takeoff and landing.