NASA’s Orion spacecraft is ready to fly to the moon

Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft is a tangible step towards getting people back to the moon. The aerospace giant has completed the assembly and testing of the Orion ship, and moved it to NASA ahead of the Artemis I test mission later in 2021. At this point, it’s just work. final readiness that include loading the thrusters, integrating the launch abandon system and mounting the ship to the top of the SLS rocket.

Artemis I is an unmanned mission. Orion will orbit the Moon to help verify both its own systems as well as those of the SLS and ground crews ahead of Artemis II, the first mission with astronauts on board. It is not until Artemis III that people will return to the lunar surface.