Constant communication and navigation

 

When spacecraft go really far from Earth, they go past the Global Positioning System and communication satellites. To talk with mission control in Houston, Orion's communication and navigation systems switch from NASA's usual system to the Deep Space Network.

Orion has extra systems just in case the main ones don't work. There's a backup navigation system, kind of like a new technology using a camera to take pictures of Earth, the Moon, and stars. It figures out where Orion is by looking at these pictures. The backup emergency communication system also doesn't depend on the main system, making sure the spacecraft can still send important data even if something goes wrong.