NASA is preparing to drop a 14,000-pound mockery of the Orion spacecraft into a large pool in Virginia, the latest in a series of drop tests leading to the eventual Artemis II lunar mission. The test is at 13:45 ET and can be seen live on NASA TV (see stream below).
The fall of the mock-up crew module takes place at NASA’s Hydro Impact Basin. The new series of tests started on March 23 and is focused on the finalization of computer models for loads and structures before the planned flight to the Moon in 2023, a mission called Artemis II (astronauts will not actually land on the Moon during this mission – it will hopefully come during Artemis III). The pool is 20 feet deep and contains about one-and-a-half Olympic-sized pools. By dropping the capsule from different angles and at different speeds, NASA engineers help to understand how the capsule will endure real conditions, such as entering the Earth’s atmosphere and splashing into the sea.
Before the SpaceX Crew Dragon team landed in the Gulf of Mexico in August last year, it had been 45 years since NASA made a splash. Now half a century since the Apollo program, the Artemis missions will take people back to the Moon, with plans to land our species on the lunar surface in 2024 with Artemis III.. The missions must also put the astronauts back safely and wave again in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
NASA exercises every element of the landing, from its strike system to the repair of spacecraft. The new drop tests will build on previous rumors and further enhance NASA’s awareness of what Orion and its crew will experience in the last, important moments of Artemis II’s return journey.