Photo of the Week: The Orion Crew Module

The crew module, now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article (ETA), returned to NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility to complete the necessary testing for the safety of Artemis II, the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

Engineers and technicians from NASA and Lockheed Martin subjected Orion to the extreme conditions it may experience in a launch abort scenario. In the event of emergency, Orion will jettison away from the Space Launch System for a safe landing in the ocean. Experts tested the functionality of the forward bay cover, the last piece that must eject before parachutes will deploy. 

Photo Credit: Quentin Schwinn and Jordan Salkin