Skip to main content

Check out NASA’s new spaceship that’s about to fly to the moon

NASA is about to perform the maiden launch of its next-generation Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the most powerful launch vehicle it’s ever built.

The Orion spacecraft.
NASA

Next week’s Artemis I mission marks the start of an exciting new era of space exploration that will pave the way for a crewed lunar landing — the first since 1972 — in just a few years from now.

Making astronaut missions possible to the moon, Mars, and beyond is the Orion spacecraft, a vehicle that on its maiden flight next week will perform a crewless flyby of the moon before returning to Earth in a demanding six-week test voyage.

Orion’s Crew Module was built by Lockheed Martin, while the European Service Module — vital for the supply of electricity, propulsion, thermal control, air, and water — is the work of Airbus Defence and Space, a unit of the aviation giant.

The video below offers a detailed look at the new Orion spacecraft, the first to be especially designed for crewed missions to deep space.

Orion Components

As the video shows, Orion’s Crew Module can carry up to four astronauts, while the spaceship’s main engine is capable of 6,000 pounds of thrust, with eight auxiliary engines each offering up to 110 pounds of thrust.

Orion also features four seven-meter-long solar wings, with 3,750 solar cells per wing drawing energy from the sun.

The video also highlights Orion’s launch abort system, a mechanism designed to activate within milliseconds of a serious anomaly at launch. If needed, the system will rapidly propel the crew capsule away from a potentially out-of-control rocket to safety via a parachute-assisted landing.

“This new spacecraft will take us farther than we’ve gone before, including to the vicinity of the moon and Mars,” NASA says on its website. “Named after one of the largest constellations in the night sky and drawing from more than 50 years of spaceflight research and development, the Orion spacecraft is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation’s deep space exploration program for decades to come.”

With 8.8 million pounds of thrust — the most ever seen with a rocket launch — next week’s SLS lift-off promises to be an extraordinary spectacle. Here’s how to watch a livestream of the event.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
NASA shares new footage in Artemis I mission highlights reel
nasa new footage artemis i mission highlights reel orion homecoming

Artemis I Mission Highlights

NASA has released a video (above) featuring highlights from its successful Artemis I mission, which ended on Sunday with the homecoming of the Orion spacecraft.

Read more
How to watch NASA’s Orion spacecraft splash down today
An artist's depiction of the Orion spacecraft flying close to the moon.

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

NASA’s Orion spacecraft has completed all of its engine burns to put it on its homecoming path.

Read more
NASA releases stunning hi-res moon images from Orion flyby
NASA's Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon.

By all accounts, NASA’s Artemis I mission has been going extraordinarily well, setting up the space agency for a crewed landing on the lunar surface possibly as soon as 2025.

The mission started on November 16 with the maiden flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, the most powerful space vehicle ever to have flown.

Read more