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Programme ArtemisWithout a crew, the Orion capsule is not empty
Even if this first return flight to the Moon is done without humans on board, the cabin is full of a dog, a sheep and mannequins.
Snoopy is not a sheepdog but he will nevertheless be accompanied by a sheep, the famous Shaun from the cartoons. It does not fly for NASA but for the European Space Agency, which was able to tell the various stages of preparation in a blog dedicated to him.
NASA/ESA
There are still four astronauts on board, Sebastian, Julia, Kyle and Kate. Lego characters found in an educational program from the toy manufacturer.
Lego
The man is heading for the Moon once more. Finally, he is preparing for it, because it will be necessary to wait for the Artemis 2 mission for a crew of American and Canadian astronauts to board the Orion capsule to go around the Moon. And Artemis 3 for the first woman to set foot on our satellite.
In this first mission, aiming to test all aspects of the vessels, the Orion capsule is however by far not empty. With Snoopy and Shaun the Sheep stuffed animals, Lego characters, two synthetic torsos and a mannequin astronaut, it would almost be jostling on board. In addition to the slightly playful side of the case, everyone has a very specific role to play, as you can discover in the gallery above.
Callisto, l’assistant vocal
There is also someone else: Callisto. It’s a virtual voice assistant, an upgraded version of Amazon’s Alexa, explains Space.com. Its purpose is to provide future astronauts with flight status and telemetry information, including ship orientation, water reserves or battery voltage levels and to change the temperature or color of lights. , via simple voice commands. Operating without internet, it will solve problems locally and immediately without going through the control center on Earth.