Artemis 1 Update: The Orion Spacecraft Is Now Fully Encapsulated by Its Launch Abort System Fairing...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

As of yesterday, the Orion vehicle that will head to the Moon on NASA's Artemis 1 mission is fully enclosed by the four ogive panels of its launch abort system (LAS) fairing. This milestone occurred as Orion is now spending its final days inside the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

With the LAS fairing now completed, Orion should be prepped for its impending move from the LASF to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) a few miles down the street. At the VAB, the capsule will be attached to the Orion stage adapter once this component itself is mated to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as it sits atop its mobile launcher.

It will be at the end of this month or early October that Orion and SLS finally become one...and Artemis 1 begins taking the final steps to launching on its highly-anticipated flight to the Moon!


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett