On its next flight, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), NASA’s Orion will come screaming into the atmosphere from the Moon at a whopping 24,700 mph. The aeroshell – composed of critical heatshield and back shell components – protects the capsule from harm during extreme conditions of re-entry.
Then, a series of 11 parachutes deploy 24,000 ft. above the ground and carry Orion to a soft water landing. However, in order for that to happen, a portion of the back shell must jettison off at precisely the right time, revealing the drogue parachutes and the three main, 300-lb. parachutes that slow Orion’s speed.
This piece of hardware is called the forward bay cover – and this crucial component for EM-1 was recently moved from its home in Denver to Orion’s Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
There, it will be integrated with Orion in preparation for the spacecraft’s 2019 test flight.
