NASA astronauts have practiced opening and closing the side hatch of the Orion spacecraft. These operations are part of the preparation for the upcoming mission to the Moon.
The training was conducted at Lockheed Martin’s campus in Littleton, Colorado. They were attended by the entire core crew of the Artemis II mission: NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Backup crew members Andre Douglas (NASA) and Jenni Gibbons (CSA) also practiced opening the hatch.
In the normal course of the mission, the crew shouldn’t operate the hatch themselves. Staff at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will help astronauts enter Orion on the launch pad and then close the hatch behind them before takeoff. And once it’s splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, it will be opened by members of the search team who will help the crew get out.
However, in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or after splashdown, the astronauts may need to leave the spacecraft on their own. The side hatch is usually opened with a manual mechanism. But for emergencies, it is equipped with small pyrotechnic charges that instantly release the hatch latch pins, allowing it to open quickly.
The Artemis II mission is currently scheduled to launch in September 2025. As part of it, four astronauts will fly around the Moon on a free-return trajectory and then return to Earth. The flight will be the first manned mission beyond Earth orbit since 1972.
However, the U.S. Government Accountability Office recently warned that due to delays in preparing ground systems, the launch of Artemis II could be postponed to a later date. More details about this situation can be found in our material.
Provided by NASA
