US Navy and NASA Join Forces to Train for Final Phase of Artemis II Moon Mission

On Sunday, February 25, 2024, during the Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11), NASA astronaut Victor Glover, serving as the pilot for Artemis II, was assisted by U.S. Navy personnel while exiting a mockup of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: NASA/Kenny Allen

In the image above, NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover is assisted by U.S. Navy personnel as he exits a mockup of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean during training on February 25, while his crewmates look on. The Artemis II crew and a team from NASA and the Department of Defense are spending several days at sea to test the procedures and tools that will be used to help the crew to safety when they splash down in the ocean at the end of their 10-day, 685,000-mile journey around the Moon next year as part of the first crewed mission under NASA’s Artemis campaign.

NASA’s Artemis II crew members are assisted by U.S. Navy personnel as they exit a mockup of the Orion spacecraft onto an inflatable “front porch” while NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the USS San Diego practice recovery procedures using the Crew Module Test Article, during Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11) off the coast of San Diego, California on Sunday, February 25, 2024. Credit: NASA/Jamie Peer

On the day of the crew’s return to Earth, a Navy ship with specially trained personnel will await splashdown and then approach the Orion capsule to help extract the four astronauts. An inflatable raft, called the front porch, will provide a place for them to rest when they exit the capsule before they are then individually hoisted by helicopters and flown to the waiting ship.

Members of NASA’s Exploration Ground System’s Landing and Recovery team and partners from the Department of Defense aboard the USS San Diego practice recovery procedures using the Crew Module Test Article with NASA Astronaut Candidate Chris Birch; Jenni Gibbons, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut; and two members of the United States Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, during Underway Recovery Test 11 (URT-11) off the coast of San Diego on Friday, February 23, 2024. URT-11 is the eleventh in a series of Artemis recovery tests, and the first time NASA and its partners put their Artemis II recovery procedures to the test with the astronauts. Credit: NASA/Kenny Allen

Artemis II, launching atop the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, marks a pivotal mission in NASA’s Artemis program, aiming to return humans to the Moon and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade. As the first crewed mission of the program, Artemis II is slated to carry astronauts around the Moon in a groundbreaking journey that tests the capabilities of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. This mission will not only demonstrate NASA’s commitment to lunar exploration but also set the stage for future missions that will land astronauts on the Moon’s surface.

Scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Artemis II will see a crew of astronauts embark on a 10-day mission, covering a distance of approximately 685,000 miles. This mission includes a lunar flyby, where the spacecraft will use the Moon’s gravity to slingshot back toward Earth, culminating in a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the mission, key life support systems and operational capabilities of the Orion spacecraft will be tested under real conditions, ensuring the safety and success of future lunar landings.