EDWARDS, CALIFORNIA — NASA is conducting tests of its rocket-powered Launch Abort System at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, ahead of the Artemis II moon mission scheduled for April 1, 2026. The abort system is designed to protect the four-astronaut crew by accelerating their capsule to 500 mph in two seconds if an emergency occurs during launch.

NASA tapped the Armstrong Flight Research Center to test the Launch Abort System for the Artemis program. The system works by firing an abort motor that rapidly pulls the crew capsule away from danger, after which the capsule flips midair and deploys its parachutes.

In the 2010s, NASA conducted two tests of the Launch Abort System at the Armstrong Flight Research Center. In the first test, engineers attached it to a sensor-equipped dummy test capsule, placed it next to white sand dunes in New Mexico, and fired it to simulate a pad abort. In the second test, the Launch Abort System and a test capsule were mounted on a modified missile, launched beyond the sound barrier, and the abort system was then triggered.

For the Pad Abort-1 test, the Armstrong team painted the test capsule, installed sensors, flight computers, wires, and parachutes, and conducted tests and measurements to prepare for launch. The Armstrong team tested the capsule's weight distribution and stability by using scales and tipping the capsule gently.

NASA is poised to launch four astronauts on April 1, 2026, on a nine-day mission around the moon and back. The Artemis II crew consists of three American astronauts and one Canadian astronaut.

Brad Flick, former director of the Armstrong Flight Research Center who retired on March 20, 2026, said, "The poster says, 'Before we did it there, we practiced it here.' And that's what we do." Flick also said, "The safest thing to ever do with an airplane is to never fly it." He added, "That's not the business we're in."

Flick said, "The people in that airplane — be they pilots, or in the cabin — they rely on us to do our jobs well, to keep them safe and alive." He said, "That's a responsibility we take very seriously."

The Armstrong Flight Research Center has conducted human flight research in the Mojave Desert for decades. The Artemis program aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in approximately 50 years and prepare for crewed missions to Mars.