{"id":367525,"date":"2025-12-23T22:08:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/367525\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T22:08:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T22:08:11","slug":"get-in-were-going-moonbound-meet-nasas-artemis-closeout-crew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/367525\/","title":{"rendered":"Get In, We\u2019re Going Moonbound: Meet NASA\u2019s Artemis Closeout Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most, getting into a car is a task that can be done without assistance. Yet for those whose destination is the Moon, the process of getting inside and secured \u2013 in this case, in NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft \u2013 requires help. That\u2019s the role of the Artemis closeout crew.<\/p>\n

Trained to support Artemis II<\/a> and future Moon missions, the five closeout crew members will be the last people to see NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen before their lunar journey.<\/p>\n

The Artemis II closeout team consists of a lead, Taylor Hose; an astronaut support person, astronaut Andre Douglas; one technician specially trained on Orion crew survival system spacesuits, Bill Owens; and two Orion technicians, Christian Warriner and Ricky Ebaugh.<\/p>\n

\"Taylor<\/p>\n

Taylor Hose<\/p>\n

Artemis II Closeout Team Lead<\/p>\n

Think of them like a pit crew for car races.<\/p>\n

When the astronauts arrive on launch day at Launch Complex 39B<\/a> at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the closeout crew will already be in place. First, the team will help the astronauts don their helmets and gloves before entering the Orion<\/a> spacecraft.<\/p>\n

Once inside, Owens and Douglas will assist each crew member with buckling up \u2013 except instead of using just one seatbelt like in a car, the crew needs several more intricate connections. Each seat includes five straps to secure the astronauts inside the crew module and several additional connections to the environmental control and life support systems<\/a> and communications system aboard.<\/p>\n

After the astronauts are secured, the hatch technicians will begin closing the spacecraft hatch. Unlike a car door that easily opens and closes with the pull of a handle, Orion\u2019s hatch requires more effort to securely close.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hatch is pneumatically driven so we have to have air lines hooked up to it, and we need the help of the ground support system to close it,\u201d said Hose.<\/p>\n

On launch day, it will take about four hours for the crew to get situated inside Orion and for the closeout process, including buttoning up both the crew module hatch and an exterior launch abort system hatch, to be complete. Even a single strand of hair inside the hatch doors could potentially pose issues with closing either hatch, so the process is carefully done.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of work to do with the seals alone \u2013 greasing, cleaning, taking the hatch cover off \u2013 and then we get into crew module hatch closure,\u201d Hose said. \u201cSo after latching the hatch, we take window covers off, install thermal protection panels, and remove the purge barrier in between the vehicle and the ogive panels, which help protect the crew module during launch and ascent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team then closes the launch abort system hatch and finishes final preparations before launch. Following the abort system hatch closure, the closeout crew departs the launch pad but stays nearby in case they need to return for any reason.<\/p>\n

\"Taylor<\/p>\n

Taylor Hose<\/p>\n

Artemis II Closeout Team Lead<\/p>\n

After launch, several team members will head to San Diego, to help with post-splashdown efforts once the mission concludes.<\/p>\n

As part of a Golden Age of innovation and exploration, the Artemis II test flight is the first crewed flight under NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign. It is another step toward new U.S.-crewed missions on the Moon\u2019s surface that will help the agency prepare to send the first astronauts \u2013 Americans \u2013 to Mars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For most, getting into a car is a task that can be done without assistance. Yet for those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[199123,63353,64,63,196888,101368,196889,3109,92394,128,92395,196890],"class_list":{"0":"post-367525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-andre-douglas","9":"tag-artemis-2","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-christina-h-koch","13":"tag-exploration-ground-systems","14":"tag-g-reid-wiseman","15":"tag-kennedy-space-center","16":"tag-orion-multi-purpose-crew-vehicle","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-space-launch-system-sls","19":"tag-victor-j-glover"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}