LIVE: NASA testing Orion capsule splashdown functionality

Posted: Apr 6, 2021 / 12:50 PM CDT
/ Up to date: Apr 6, 2021 / 01:00 PM CDT

LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER, Va. — NASA is about to check the Orion crew module into its Hydro Affect Basin to check that it’s prepared for splashdown on return missions.

The house company plans to drop a 14,000-pound check model of the Orion spacecraft into the water.

NASA’s Artemis II mission would be the first mission with crew aboard. Artemis II will carry the crew across the moon and again. Ultimately, the house company plans to land a crew on the moon’s floor.