It’s been more than 50 years since a spacecraft carrying astronauts last orbited the moon.
On April 1, four NASA astronauts lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the Orion spacecraft for their 10-day Artemis II mission – powered by liquid hydrogen and liquid helium supplied by Air Products.
During the flight, the crew traveled approximately 4,700 miles beyond the far side of the moon, breaking the human spaceflight distance record set by Apollo 13, according to NASA.
At the pad, liquid hydrogen, combined with liquid oxygen, feeds the rocket’s cryogenic propulsion systems, while liquid helium is used to pressurize and purge cryogenic lines – key steps for safe and reliable launch operations.
Doug Williams, an Advanced Systems Engineer who has been onsite for 10 space launches during his time at Air Products, said the company’s work supporting Orion dates back to 2010, when Air Products supplied industrial gases for early testing.
For Artemis II, Williams led the onsite team responsible for helium support using proprietary liquid helium pumps. The equipment is specially designed to handle cryogenic fluids, which are essential for spacecraft propellant tanks and ground operations at the Kennedy Space Center, helping teams meet strict flow, pressure and safety requirements. Since the inception of the U.S. Space Program, Air Products has been proud to support NASA, from the initial Apollo missions and Apollo 11 moon landing, through the Space Shuttle Missions to more recent launches to study Mars.
“For decades, Air Products has provided the critical industrial gases needed to help power NASA’s important work,” said Francesco Maione, Air Products’ President, Americas. “As NASA takes these important steps to return to the moon, Air Products is proud to support the work that helps make that mission possible and inspires us all.”
Artemis II builds on the success of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, demonstrating a broad range of capabilities needed for deep space missions. The Artemis II test flight was NASA’s first mission with a crew aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft.