The Artemis II mission, scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this evening, will take a crew of four around the Moon and back, testing new life support and other technologies for future deep-space exploration.

Central to NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft is the European-built solar array that will provide its power once in space.

The array features four seven-metre-long solar wings attached to the European Space Module (ESM) built by Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA). Airbus described the ESM as the “powerhouse” of the spacecraft, providing the propulsion, power, thermal control and the air and water needed for the crew.