NASA has begun water tests of the Orion lunar capsule in preparation for the Artemis-1 lunar mission
As told Engineer Kathy Lueders (Kathy Lueders), who heads NASA’s operated space flight program, the agency launched a “water treatment” in the framework of the testing of the lunar ship “Orion” (The Orion) in a field in the center Hampton (Virginia).
Engineers began a series of four tests to drop the capsule into the water using a future Orion spacecraft test version. The test results will help scientists better understand what Orion and its crew might experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean after returning from Artemis missions to and from the Moon.
Tests conducted in a dedicated landing and impact pond will simulate multiple splashdown scenarios as close as possible to real-world conditions. They will collect a ton of data for computer modeling. While NASA has already conducted a series of pool tests, the current one uses a new configuration for the crew module, representing the spacecraft’s final design.
The water impact test data is part of the official proficiency test program for structural design and verification of Artemis II requirements, NASA’s first human-crewed mission under the Artemis lunar program. Early this year, NASA will launch the SLS super-heavy rocket with the Orion spacecraft in unmanned mode.
