Artemis II Mission Guided by Redwire Navigation Technology
Imaging System Also Part of the Manned Lunar Flyby
Advanced optical imaging and sun sensor technology developed by Redwire are playing integral roles in the Artemis II mission. Through contracts with Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, Redwire is responsible for the production and testing of the Orion Camera System for Artemis missions I-V.
“We can’t all be astronauts, but through the amazing imagery that our cameras will capture, the whole world can be a part of the extraordinary journey of discovery that is Artemis II.”
Mike Gold, Redwire
The camera system for Artemis II comprises 11 internal and external inspection and navigation cameras, including wireless cameras positioned on each of Orion’s four solar arrays to allow in-flight inspection of the entire spacecraft. The system’s Optical Navigation Camera provides high resolution imagery to the spacecraft’s machine vision algorithm to determine Orion’s position and velocity relative to Earth. Other cameras will record 4k video and 12MP images and livestream both the inside and outside of the vehicle, including key mission events such as separation, jettison, deployment, and crew demonstrations. The Redwire cameras on board Artemis I successfully captured imagery and video, including livestream views from the solar array wing cameras that were made available to the public throughout the mission.
“You may have heard the phrase, ‘the camera is the mission,’ which certainly still resonates today. I am so proud that Redwire is providing its trusted and flight-proven imaging and navigation technology for Artemis II, which will play a vital role in this historic endeavor,” said Mike Gold, President of Redwire Space. “We can’t all be astronauts, but through the amazing imagery that our cameras will capture, the whole world can be a part of the extraordinary journey of discovery that is Artemis II.”
Redwire is also providing four redundant Coarse Sun Sensor (CSS) assemblies for Orion’s European Service Module (ESM) through a contract with Airbus. The CSS are part of Orion’s solar power generation system and will provide important data to the Solar Array Drive Electronics to adjust the ESM’s solar panels. The CSS were part of and performed successfully on Artemis I.