NASA is working to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in five years as part of the agency’s Artemis program. According to NASA, engineers at Kennedy Space Center have completed and attached the crew and service modules for Artemis I and are preparing the spacecraft for environmental testing. Meanwhile, teams at Kennedy are integrating thousands of parts into the crew module for Artemis II.
In a statement this week, the agency said it has set in motion the Orion spacecraft production line to support the mission that will carry the first woman and the next man to the Moon by 2024. Orion is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration.
The Orion Production and Operations Contract (OPOC) was awarded to Lockheed Martin, NASA said. The contract includes a commitment to order at least six Orion spacecraft before Sept. 30, 2030. Spacecraft production of the Orion program, managed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will focus on building a presence on the Moon, the statement said.
In addition to the Orion program, the Texas facility also manages NASA’s Gateway and International Space Station programs and is home to the Mission Control Center and America’s astronaut corps – the next moonwalkers.
Johnson also manages the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, the first two deliveries for which are targeted to launch to the Moon in July 2021.
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