Two of Orion‘s four recently installed solar array wings are exposed and surrounded by the panels that will protect it during launch and ascent. Three spacecraft adapter jettison fairings are being prepared for installation and will be moved into place by technicians with Lockheed Martin, lead contractor for Orion. They will be secured around the spacecraft, encapsulating the European Service Module to protect it from the harsh environment as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. The next time the solar array wings will be visible will be when Orion is in space. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.
Image Credit: Radislav Sinyak