NASA teamed up with the U.S. Department of Defence on 11 and 12 June to conduct a simulation for emergency procedures for a crewed lunar mission as part of the Artemis II mission. The combined test was a test of abort scenarios that could affect the Orion crew vehicle during a countdown or in flight as it travels to space. Staged off the coast of Florida, these high-stakes dress rehearsals were dry runs of just how quickly and effectively teams could find and recover astronauts following an in-flight failure, bolstering readiness as NASA aims for its first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.

NASA, DoD Simulate Orion Capsule Abort Rescues to Boost Artemis II Astronaut Safety Systems

As per an official NASA report, these simulations involved coordinated efforts by the Kennedy Space Centre’s launch team, Johnson Space Centre flight controllers, and the Artemis II mission management. A test version of the Orion capsule, known as the Crew Module Test Article, was deployed with mannequins on board to mimic a real crew. On the first day, a simulated pad abort was executed where Orion was imagined to be ejected before launch. Navy helicopters carrying U.S. Air Force pararescuers deployed from Patrick Space Force Base, diving into the ocean to extract the test crew for a mock medical evacuation.

In the following scenario, there was an abort during ascent, which included a simulated mid-flight ejection and splashdown in the water 12 miles off the coast. More pararescuers were dropped, and they used special NASA-DoD equipment to get to the floating capsule. This was necessary for emergency retrieval.

Teams for NASA’s Moon to Mars Program are practising launch day operations with a series of procedures similar to previous Underway Recovery Tests to verify mission safety functionality.
NASA and the Department of Defence (DoD) have practised an abort scenario to keep astronauts safe as they would fly on the Artemis II mission, which will take four astronauts on a journey around the Moon and back as part of long-term human exploration of deep space beyond Earth.