Artemis IV Pressure Vessel and Artemis II European Service Modul

Seen here is the pressure vessel for the Artemis IV mission inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023. The pressure vessel is the underlying structure of the Orion crew module, containing the pressurized atmosphere astronauts will breathe and work in while in the vacuum of deep space. Artemis IV will be the first operational mission to Gateway – an outpost in lunar orbit serving as a staging point for deep space exploration – followed by a week-long surface mission on the Moon. Using Gateway, NASA will develop a long-term presence on the Moon, using this as a steppingstone before venturing on to Mars.