The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Department of Defense (DOD) successfully completed the first recovery test for the crewed Artemis II space mission off the coast of San Diego earlier this month.
During the test, the team practiced how they will extract the four astronauts who will venture around the Moon from their spacecraft after they land in the Pacific Ocean, and recover the Orion crew module.
Drawing on lessons learned from the successful recovery of the Orion spacecraft after the Artemis I flight test and the addition of crew for Artemis II, recovery teams are modifying their timelines and procedures to ensure the astronauts will be safely delivered to the recovery ship less than two hours after splashing down.
During the test, NASA's landing and recovery team used a new crew module test article and personnel from the team as stands-ins for the four astronauts who will fly on the mission to demonstrate their procedures.
Once the crew splashes down at the end of their mission, a group of US Navy divers will approach the Orion module and ensure it is safe for the astronauts to exit the spacecraft.
The divers will then open the spacecraft hatch and help the astronauts exit one by one onto an inflatable raft called the "front porch." This raft wraps around the capsule and gives the crew a platform where they will be picked up via helicopters and flown to the recovery ship several thousand yards away.
Once the astronauts are aboard the ship, teams will secure Orion with a series of lines and slowly tow it back inside the ship, just as they did during Artemis I.
Prior to the recent test, the Artemis II crew visited Naval Base San Diego to meet with the recovery team and learn more about the recovery vessel and testing that will help bring them safely back to shore. The crew will participate in a future recovery test next year as part of their mission training.
While this test, Underway Recovery Test 10, was the first time NASA and its US Navy and Air Force partners put their Artemis II recovery operations to the test, it is tenth in a series of demonstrations at sea off the coast of California. The recovery team will capture lessons learned and apply them to future underway tests to make sure they are ready to recover the Artemis II crew and bring them home safely.
The approximately 10-day Artemis II flight will test NASA's foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, for the first time with astronauts and will pave the way for lunar surface missions.
