NASA is preparing astronauts for missions in the Orion spacecraft when the spacecraft simulator arrived at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The simulator allows astronauts, engineers, and flight controllers to train and deploy for mission scenarios using Orion for future missions to the moon. Orion is the spaceship used for Artemis’ first missions to the moon.
Inside the simulator, the interior is decorated with the same displays seen in Orion spacecraft and control systems and crew sets capable of reporting what astronauts receive when the Orion spacecraft launches. The simulator can also simulate what astronauts feel when they return to Earth after the mission is complete.
Astronauts who witnessed the Orion simulator include Stephanie Wilson, Jonny Kim, and Randy Bresnik. Astronauts Wilson and Kim are among the 18 astronauts named as part of the Artemis Team that are eligible to participate in Artemis missions to the moon. Bresnik is not a suitable astronaut because he is currently an aide to the head of the astronaut’s office for exploration.
Artemis II is the first mission to carry a team, and NASA is aiming for 2023 to launch it. Orion launches the Space Launch System rocket. Artemis II, like the early Apollo missions, will not send astronauts on the moon. Instead, astronauts aboard Artemis II will move to the moon and return to Earth. That test mission will help set the stage for humans to return to the lunar surface in 2024.
We know that one of the astronauts who steps on the moon as a woman will mark the first time a woman is on the moon. SpaceX is also working on a larger spaceship designed to transport astronauts to the moon and eventually to Mars, called Starship. The Starship prototype was recently lost during high testing.