Artemis II astronauts go to ESA

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Area Company astronaut Jeremy Hansen had been joined by NASA Affiliate Administrator Amit Kshatriya and NASA’s Orion Program administration for this primary cease of post-flight visits to the European groups that supported the Artemis II mission. Later this week, they can even go to European Service Module prime contractor Airbus in Bremen, Germany, and Thales Alenia Area in Turin, Italy, who constructed the module’s construction.

The day started with a tour of ESA’s exploration services at ESTEC, visiting the Eagle mission control room, the place engineers monitored the European Service Module across the clock all through Artemis II and labored carefully with groups at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The astronauts additionally visited the Human-Robotic Interplay Lab, the place robotics engineers are developing technologies for future lunar and martian exploration.

The go to included a recognition occasion throughout which NASA Orion Program Supervisor Howard Hu offered ESA with a Program Award and certificates acknowledging the vital European contribution to the mission. 

Within the afternoon, the astronauts participated in a press convention, together with ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander, US ambassador to the Netherlands Joseph Popolo and Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands Hugh Adsett on-site, in addition to ESA Director Common Josef Aschbacher becoming a member of remotely. The day ended with a casual gathering with ESA’s European Service Module crew and their households.

The Artemis II mission launched on 1 April and lasted 10 days, carrying people across the Moon for the primary time since Apollo 17 in 1972. All through the journey, ESA’s European Service Module provided air and water for the crew, maintained thermal management, generated electrical energy by its 4 photo voltaic arrays and offered the propulsion wanted to journey multiple million kilometres by deep area. Constructed by European business below ESA management and assembled by Airbus in Bremen, the module brings collectively experience from 13 European nations.

Following profitable flights on Artemis I and Artemis II, Europe has already delivered for the subsequent mission. The third European Service Module arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in 2024 and can quickly be related to the crew module to type the Orion spacecraft for Artemis III. The mission will embody ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano as pilot, who will develop into the primary European to fly an Artemis mission.