NASA's Orion capsule packs a gym that doubles as a doorstep
Space inside a deep-space capsule is precious, so objects earn their keep twice. Orion's compact flywheel exercise device lets astronauts do aerobic and resistance workouts on a cable-driven wheel, and because it sits beneath the side hatch, crews also step on it climbing in and out. Much of the cabin follows that same thrifty logic.
Orion is NASA's crew vehicle for the Artemis lunar programme. Lockheed Martin builds the capsule, while the European Space Agency supplies the service module, manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen. Four astronauts can live aboard past low Earth orbit for as long as 21 days on its own, or six months attached to a station. The shape recalls Apollo, but wider: 5.02 metres across, made of aluminium-lithium alloy, weighing about 8.5 tonnes, with roughly half as much again Apollo's interior volume. The heat shield uses AVCOAT, silica fibres set in resin within a honeycomb, the same material Apollo and the Space Shuttle relied on.
The cockpit borrows digital controls partly from the Boeing 787, with three main screens and seven switch panels. A cursor device lets the crew work the displays under heavy g-forces when reaching out is hard. Seats adjust to fit astronauts from roughly the 1st to the 99th percentile of body size, and for launch and return the crew lies on their backs with knees bent at 90 degrees. Once in orbit the foot pans come out to free up room. A private toilet compartment covering five square feet uses airflow to handle waste, and a briefcase-style warmer heats meals.
Safety hardware sits on the nose: a launch abort system with three solid motors that can yank the capsule clear of a failing rocket. The jettison motor fires on every flight, since it removes the tower even after a normal ascent. Splashdown uses Nomex parachutes descended from Apollo designs.
The first uncrewed test flight launched on 5 December 2014 and lasted 4 hours 24 minutes. Development from 2006 through 2025 cost $25.6 billion in nominal dollars, and the first crewed flight, Artemis II, launched on 1 April 2026.
Source: Orion (spacecraft)
