Powering Exploration Mission-1

Kennedy Space Center Associate Director Kelvin Manning, far left, moderates questions to NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) senior managers during the "Powering Exploration Mission-1" ceremony in the high bay of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the center on Nov. 16, 2016. From left, are Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development; Phillippe Deloo, European Service Module program manager at ESA; Mark Kirasich, Orion Program manager at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston; Sue Motil, Orion European Service Module integration manager at the agency's Glenn Research Center; and Jan Worner, ESA director general. The event was held to mark a major milestone, the arrival of the European Service Module (ESM) for Orion's Exploration Mission-1. The service module, built by the European Space Agency, will supply the main propulsion system and power to the Orion spacecraft during EM-1, a mission to the Moon. The ESM also will house air and water for astronauts on future missions. EM-1 will be an uncrewed flight test that will provide a foundation for human deep space exploration to destinations beyond Earth orbit. EM-1 will be the first integrated test of NASA's Space Launch System, Orion and the ground systems at Kennedy.