Photo of the Day: The Final Touches Are Being Put on Artemis 1's Orion Spacecraft for Flight...

NASA / Cory Huston

Hardware has Orion’s Parachutes ‘Covered’ for Artemis I Mission (News Release)

Affixed to the top of Orion for the Artemis I mission is the shiny, newly installed forward bay cover. This critical piece of hardware will protect the top part of Orion’s crew module as the capsule blazes back through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of more than 25,000 mph. After reentry, jettison mechanisms will generate enough thrust to push the cover away from the spacecraft and allow the three main parachutes to unfurl, stabilizing and slowing the capsule to 20 mph or less for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Source: NASA.Gov