The American "Orion" spacecraft is waiting to be installed until the rocket will fly around the moon next year

On October 19, nasa lunar exploration spacecraft "Orion" has moved to the final assembly building, waiting to be installed on the rocket, in preparation for the lunar test flight early next year.

According to the US aerospace news website Spaceflight now, the "Orion" spacecraft, including the escape tower, is 20 meters high and after more than 4 hours, it was transferred from the place where the escape tower was installed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the spacecraft assembly building.

This week, the Orion spacecraft mounted it on top of the 98-meter-high high-thrust launch vehicle Space Launch System in preparation for artemis 1, a lunar exploration project to start early next year. Fully fueled, the Orion spacecraft weighs 33.5 tons.

In the Artemis 1 project, the Orion spacecraft will complete an unmanned flight around the moon, but a mannequin wearing a spacesuit and equipped with a radiation detector will sit in the position of commander of Orion. The Last SpaceFlight of the Orion spacecraft was a test mission in 2014.

On December 5, 2014, the Orion spacecraft made its first unmanned test flight. (Image source: China News Network Data Chart)

The space agency plans to launch the Artemis 2 project around the end of 2023, with the Orion spacecraft carrying astronauts around the moon. If all goes well, the United States will launch the Artemis 3 project in 2024 to send astronauts back to the lunar surface.

According to NASA's official website, the "Artemis" plan consists of three parts: the construction of the lunar orbiting space station "portal", the construction of rockets and spacecraft to the "portal", and the construction of the lunar lander that travels between the "portal" and the lunar surface. NASA plans to launch the Portal complex into orbit in one go with a single rocket in 2023.

It is reported that the Orion multi-purpose spacecraft was led by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. The company is a Boeing partner, and the two companies jointly established the United Launch Alliance. (End)