Unloading the European Service Module-2 for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, USA. This is the last stopover on Earth before the made-in-Europe powerhouse takes the first astronauts around the Moon on the Artemis II mission.

An Antonov aircraft sent the module across the Atlantic in a custom-built container from Bremen, Germany. Upon arrival at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the second European Service Module (ESM-2) will be connected to the crew module. Together they form the Orion spacecraft.

The service module is a critical element for Orion – it provides propulsion, power and thermal control and will supply astronauts with water and oxygen.

Extensive testing awaits before integration with the launcher. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

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