NASA is investigating a “minor smell” reported aboard the Orion spacecraft Saturday morning, officials said, while the Artemis II crew prepares for a lunar flyby that will let them see parts of the Moon never before viewed by humans.
Orion deputy program manager Debbie Korth told reporters that flight teams reviewed power and heater telemetry and “nothing looks anomalous.” She said a similar odor was previously reported on the ground, suggesting a possible mechanical source such as off-gassing from tapes or other materials, but added investigators are early in their work and “don’t think there’s any hazardous condition.” (ABC News’ Briana Alvarado)
NASA confirmed the mission’s upcoming lunar flyby will present views of far-side lunar regions unfamiliar to human eyes. Kelsey Young of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate explained that Apollo missions were timed for near-side illumination, so some far-side features remain unseen by humans. SLS Program lead John Honeycutt noted that areas recently imaged by robotic probes are now visible to crew members aboard Orion. The mission will also include a roughly 53-minute solar eclipse about an hour after Earthrise. (Briana Alvarado)
On Saturday NASA released a new high-resolution “selfie” of Orion taken by a camera mounted on one of the spacecraft’s solar array wings during a routine external inspection on mission day two. Flight day four activities include a scheduled deep-space handling test: at 9:10 p.m. ET Victor Glover will take manual control of Orion to evaluate spacecraft response to maneuvers far from Earth. Controllers also scheduled a 24-hour acoustics test to better understand cabin sound levels. (Briana Alvarado)
The crew was awakened around 12:35 p.m. ET to the song “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan. NASA released new downlinked images showing Commander Reid Wiseman and Mission Specialist Christina Koch gazing at Earth from Orion’s windows as they travel toward the Moon. (Briana Alvarado)