NASA’s ‘Moonikin’ Will Boldly Go Where No Test Dummy Has Gone Before
A naming contest for the inanimate Artemis crew member launches today.
Image: NASA
Should all go according to plan, NASA’s new Space Launch System megarocket will finally leave Earth this November, in a journey that will take an Orion capsule to the Moon and back. No human will fly on this inaugural Artemis mission, but a soon-to-be-named manakin will make the trip along with a pair of simulated torsos.
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NASA’s Space Launch System is coming along nicely, so it’s only natural to start thinking about a crew, or at least, a stand-in for the real crew (the actual Artemis team has already been chosen, in case you’re wondering). Having flesh-and-blood humans participate in an inaugural rocket launch would be unspeakably reckless, which is why NASA is preparing a manikin for the mission.
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