Artemis II Backshell Panels

Visible in the foreground are back shell panels on the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 15, 2024. The back shell panels serve as the outer layer of the spacecraft and will protect it against the extreme temperatures of re-entry from deep space. In the background are the heat shield for Orion’s Artemis IV mission secured on a work stand, as well as the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission.