NASA is testing its Orion spacecraft ahead of its planned trip to the Moon. The space agency simulated the extreme conditions the capsule would experience during a launch launch scenario when it had to push itself, and its crew, away from the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

NASA recently completed an 11-month crew module test campaign to ensure Orion is ready for the Artemis 2 mission, which will send a crew of four astronauts around the Moon and back. A team of engineers subjected the Orion Environmental Test Article (ETA) to a grueling series of tests at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, simulating emergency scenarios during launch. Orion is designed to separate from the SLS rocket and splash safely into the ocean during a launch launch scenario with astronauts on board.

“This event is the highest stress and highest load seen in any of the systems,” Robert Overy, Orion ETA project manager at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, said in a statement. “We took a proven vehicle from a successful flight and pushed it to its limits. The safety of the astronaut crew depends on this test campaign.”

During the tests, NASA engineers simulated the noise level of an abort scenario during the launch, as well as the electromagnetic effects of lightning. The slow-motion video (above) shows Orion’s docking module and parachute covers, as well as the five airbags on top of the spacecraft inflating as it splashes down, being ejected. This process is necessary to open the spacecraft’s parachute system and deploy the airbags, which are designed to ensure a safe landing in the ocean for the crew.

It looks like the Orion module passed the test. “It was a successful test campaign,” Overy said. “The data is consistent with the prediction models, and everything is working as expected after being subjected to nominal and launch abort acoustic levels. We are still analyzing the data, but preliminary results show that the vehicle and facility are working as desired.

NASA has been preparing for this test for over a decade. The space agency built the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility, the most powerful spacecraft acoustic test chamber, in 2011 for this specific test campaign. “These tests are absolutely critical because we need to complete all these tests to say that the spacecraft design is safe and we are ready to fly a crew for the first time on Artemis II,” Michael See, ETA vehicle manager of NASA’s Orion Program, said in a statement. “This is the first time we’ve ever tested a spacecraft on the ground in such an extreme abort-level acoustic environment.”

In November 2022, Orion was launched on a 1.4 million mile journey to the Moon and back. The Artemis 1 mission was an uncrewed test flight of the capsule in preparation for its successor, Artemis 2. The mission was considered a success, despite a unexpected performance from Orion’s heat shield during reentry. Artemis 2 was originally scheduled to launch in September 2025, but a recent delay in the program pushing Orion’s crew to April 2026. The mission was intended to lead to Artemis 3, the first manned landing on the Moon since Apollo. Artemis 3 has also been delayed to mid-2027.

NASA’s Artemis program is quite difficult, with the space agency racing to reach the lunar surface ahead of China, but issues with its SLS rocket, Orion’s heat shield, and many other issues, plagued the lunar program, causing several delays and cost overruns. Fortunately, Orion is ready to push itself away from the rocket in case of an emergency.