NASA, DoD run high-stakes abort drills to safeguard Artemis II lunar mission

In a crucial step toward ensuring astronaut safety on the upcoming Artemis II mission, NASA joined forces with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) on June 11 and 12 to simulate emergency abort scenarios.

These joint exercises aimed to assess how quickly and efficiently rescue teams could respond to potential in-flight failures involving the Orion spacecraft — the vehicle set to carry astronauts to the Moon for the first time in over five decades.

According to an official NASA release, the simulation took place off the Florida coast and included dry runs involving a test version of the Orion crew module, known as the Crew Module Test Article. Equipped with mannequins to mimic real astronauts, the capsule was used in various scenarios that could play out either on the launchpad or during ascent.

The first day featured a simulated pad abort, in which the Orion capsule was imagined to eject before liftoff. U.S. Navy helicopters, deployed from Patrick Space Force Base, carried Air Force pararescue personnel who executed a mock ocean recovery and medical evacuation.

On the second day, the teams rehearsed a mid-flight abort, simulating a scenario where Orion was ejected during ascent and landed approximately 12 miles offshore. Rescue teams used specialised NASA-DoD gear to reach the capsule and extract the mannequins in another mock rescue operation.

The simulations involved a coordinated effort between Kennedy Space Center's launch team, Johnson Space Center’s flight controllers, and Artemis II mission management. These drills also form part of a broader campaign under NASA’s Moon to Mars Program to fine-tune launch-day emergency response procedures and recovery readiness.

Artemis II is expected to take four astronauts around the Moon and back, marking a critical milestone in NASA’s long-term plans for deep space exploration.