Orion Spacecraft
NASA's Deep Space Crew Vehicle
The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is designed for deep space exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) — specifically crewed missions to the Moon and (in the future) Mars. Orion consists of a crew module (CM, built by Lockheed Martin), service module (SM, built by ESA), and launch abort system (LAS). On Artemis II, Orion will carry four astronauts on a free-return trajectory — travelling ~380,000 km to the Moon, looping around it, and returning to Earth in ~10 days without entering lunar orbit.
- Crew module diameter: 5.02 metres; capacity: up to 4 crew members for deep space missions
- Service module: provided by ESA (European Space Agency) — part of ESA's contribution to Artemis
- Heat shield: Avcoat ablative shield — must withstand re-entry at ~11 km/s (lunar return speed, faster than ISS re-entries)
- Artemis II trajectory: free-return trajectory — if propulsion fails, spacecraft returns to Earth automatically
- Maximum distance from Earth on Artemis II: ~370,000 km (closest approach to Moon: ~7,400 km)
● Tracked since March 19, 2026 · last seen April 11, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes
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