On NASA's Artemis II test flight, the first crewed mission under the agency's Artemis campaign, astronauts will take the controls of the Orion spacecraft and periodically fly it manually during the flight around the moon ...
The first key piloting test, called the proximity operations demonstration, will take place after the four crew members—NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen—are safely in space, about three hours into the mission.
To evaluate the spacecraft's manual handling qualities, the crew will pilot Orion to approach and back away from the detached upper stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.
Crew members participating in the demonstration will use two different controllers, called rotational and translational hand controllers, to steer the spacecraft. Three display screens provide the astronauts with data, and another device, called the cursor control device, allows the crew to interact with the displays.
"On Artemis II, most of the time the spacecraft will fly autonomously, but having humans aboard is a chance to help with future mission success," said Reid Wiseman.
"If something goes wrong, a crewmember can jump on the controls and help fix the problem. One of our big goals is to check out this spacecraft and have it completely ready for our friends on Artemis III."
The commander and pilot seats are each equipped with a rotational hand controller (RHC), gripped in the right hand, to rotate the spacecraft. It controls Orion's attitude, or the direction the spacecraft is pointing. If the crew wants to point Orion's nose left, the RHC is twisted left—for nose right, they will twist the RHC right. Similarly, the RHC can control the nose to pitch up or down or roll right or left.
Astronauts will use the rotational hand controller (RHC), gripped in the right hand, to rotate the spacecraft. It controls Orion’s attitude, or the direction the spacecraft is pointing. If the crew wants to point Orion’s nose left, the RHC is twisted left – for nose right, they will twist the RHC right. Similarly, the RHC can control the nose to pitch up or down or roll right or left. Credit: NASA
The crew will use the translational hand controller (THC), located to the right or left of the display screens, to move Orion from one point to another. To move the spacecraft forward, the crew pushes the controller straight in—to back up, they will pull the controller out. And similarly, the controller can be pushed up or down and left or right to move in those directions. Credit: NASA
The cursor control device allows the crew to interact with the three display screens that show spacecraft data and information. This device allows the crew to interact with Orion even under the stresses of launch or entry when gravitational forces can prevent them from physically reaching the screens.