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Artemis lunar flyby: Orion is coming home
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By NASA
On the left, the Canopee transport carrier containing the European Service Module for NASA’s Artemis III mission arrives at Port Canaveral in Florida, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, before completing the last leg of its journey to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center’s Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout via truck. On the right, NASA’s Pegasus barge, carrying several pieces of hardware for Artemis II, III, and IV arrives at NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39 turn basin wharf on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Credit: NASA From across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Gulf of Mexico, two ships converged, delivering key spacecraft and rocket components of NASA’s Artemis campaign to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
On Sept. 3, ESA (European Space Agency) marked a milestone in the Artemis III mission as its European-built service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft completed a transatlantic journey from Bremen, Germany, to Port Canaveral, Florida, where technicians moved it to nearby NASA Kennedy. Transported aboard the Canopée cargo ship, the European Service Module—assembled by Airbus with components from 10 European countries and the U.S.—provides propulsion, thermal control, electrical power, and water and oxygen for its crews.
“Seeing multi-mission hardware arrive at the same time demonstrates the progress we are making on our Artemis missions,” said Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator, Moon to Mars Program, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are going to the Moon together with our industry and international partners and we are manufacturing, assembling, building, and integrating elements for Artemis flights.”
NASA’s Pegasus barge, the agency’s waterway workhorse for transporting large hardware by sea, ferried multi-mission hardware for the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, the Artemis II launch vehicle stage adapter, the “boat-tail” of the core stage for Artemis III, the core stage engine section for Artemis IV, along with ground support equipment needed to move and assemble the large components. The barge pulled into NASA Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39B Turn Basin Thursday.
The spacecraft factory inside NASA Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building is set to buzz with additional activity in the coming months. With the Artemis II Orion crew and service modules stacked together and undergoing testing, and engineers outfitting the Artemis III and IV crew modules, engineers soon will connect the newly arrived European Service Module to the crew module adapter, which houses electronic equipment for communications, power, and control, and includes an umbilical connector that bridges the electrical, data, and fluid systems between the crew and service modules.
The SLS rocket’s cone-shaped launch vehicle stage adapter connects the core stage to the upper stage and protects the rocket’s flight computers, avionics, and electrical devices in the upper stage system during launch and ascent. The adapter will be taken to Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building in preparation for Artemis II rocket stacking operations.
The boat-tail, which will be used during the assembly of the SLS core stage for Artemis III, is a fairing-like structure that protects the bottom end of the core stage and RS-25 engines. This hardware, picked up at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, will join the Artemis III core stage engine section housed in the spaceport’s Space Systems Processing Facility.
The Artemis IV SLS core stage engine section arrived from NASA Michoud and also will transfer to the center’s processing facility ahead of final assembly.
Under the Artemis campaign, NASA will land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the lunar surface, establishing long-term exploration for scientific discovery and preparing for human missions to Mars. The agency’s SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, and supporting ground systems, along with the human landing system, next-generation spacesuits and rovers, and Gateway, serve as NASA’s foundation for deep space exploration.
For more information on NASA’s Artemis missions, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/artemis
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Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
Allison Tankersley, Antonia Jaramillo Botero
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
Allison.p.tankersley@nasa.gov/ antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov
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By European Space Agency
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has successfully completed its fourth of six gravity assist flybys at Mercury, capturing images of two special impact craters as it uses the little planet’s gravity to steer itself on course to enter orbit around Mercury in November 2026.
The closest approach took place at 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC) on 4 September 2024, with BepiColombo coming down to around 165 km above the planet’s surface. For the first time, the spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole.
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By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
A prototype of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser, currently in development at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, is displayed alongside various food pouches during a demonstration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. NASA/David DeHoyos NASA engineers are working hard to ensure no astronaut goes hungry on the Artemis IV mission.
When international teams of astronauts live on Gateway, humanity’s first space station to orbit the Moon, they’ll need innovative gadgets like the Mini Potable Water Dispenser. Vaguely resembling a toy water soaker, it manually dispenses water for hygiene bags, to rehydrate food, or simply to drink. It is designed to be compact, lightweight, portable and manual, making it ideal for Gateway’s relatively small size and remote location compared to the International Space Station closer to Earth.
The team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama leading the development of the dispenser understands that when it comes to deep space cuisine, the food astronauts eat is so much more than just fuel to keep them alive.
“Food doesn’t just provide body nourishment but also soul nourishment,” said Shaun Glasgow, project manager at Marshall. “So ultimately this device will help provide that little piece of soul nourishment. After a long day, the crew can float back and enjoy some pasta or scrambled eggs, a small sense of normalcy in a place far from home.”
As NASA continues to innovate and push the boundaries of deep space exploration, devices like the compact, lightweight dispenser demonstrate a blend of practicality and ingenuity that will help humanity chart its path to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
An engineer demonstrates the use of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser by rehydrating a food pouch during a testing session at Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024. This compact, lightweight dispenser is designed to help astronauts prepare meals in deep space.NASA/David DeHoyos A close-up view of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser prototype during a testing demonstration at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024.NASA/David DeHoyos NASA food scientists rehydrate a food pouch during a test of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser at Johnson Space Center on June 6, 2024. NASA/David DeHoyos A NASA food scientist captures video of the Mini Potable Water Dispenser during testing at Johnson Space Center.NASA/David DeHoyos Matt Rowell, an engineer from the Marshall Space Flight Center demonstrates the Mini Potable Water Dispenser to NASA food scientists during a testing session.NASA/David DeHoyos Project manager Shaun Glasgow (right) demonstrates the Mini Potable Water Dispenser. NASA/David DeHoyos Brett Montoya, a lead space architect in the Center for Design and Space Architecture at Johnson Space Center, rehydrates a package of food using the Mini Potable Water Dispenser.NASA/David DeHoyos Learn More about Gateway Facebook logo @NASAGateway @NASA_Gateway Instagram logo @nasaartemis Share
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Last Updated Sep 04, 2024 EditorBriana R. ZamoraContactBriana R. Zamorabriana.r.zamora@nasa.govLocationJohnson Space Center Related Terms
Artemis Earth's Moon Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate Gateway Program Gateway Space Station Johnson Space Center Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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By European Space Agency
Teams from across ESA and industry have worked continuously over the past four months to overcome a glitch that prevented BepiColombo’s thrusters from operating at full power. The ESA/JAXA mission is still on track, with a new trajectory that will take it just 165 km from Mercury’s surface on Wednesday.
Taking BepiColombo closer to Mercury than it’s ever been before, this flyby will reduce the spacecraft’s speed and change its direction. It also gives us the opportunity to snap images and fine-tune science instrument operations at Mercury before the main mission begins. Closest approach is scheduled for 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC) on 4 September.
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By NASA
NASA’s T-38 jets fly in formation above the Space Launch System rocket on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Aircraft designations and passengers:
901: Chris Condon / Astronaut Zena Cardman.
902: Astronaut Candidate Nicole Ayers / Astronaut Christina Koch.
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904: Chief Astronaut Reid Wiseman / Astronaut Joe Acaba.
905 (Photo Chase): Astronaut Candidate Jack Hathaway / Josh Valcarcel
Image Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel
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