Success in NASA moon mission "Artemis 1" - "Huston, we have a new record"

Created: 11/27/2022, 11:02 am

By: Martina Lippl

On NASA's Artemis 1 lunar mission, the Orion capsule orbits the moon, as shown in a photo taken on day five of the mission.

© NASA/imago

The start of the NASA moon mission "Artemis 1" was quite bumpy.

But now the US space agency is reporting one success after another and even overshadows "Apollo 13".

Washington – After more than 50 years, NASA is again on its way to the moon.

Before humans are actually supposed to land humans on the moon again, the first flight of the Artemis mission takes place unmanned.

"Artemis 1" is a stress test.

NASA wanted to make a historic launch.

But due to technical problems - a leak in the tank - the first attempt in summer 2022 had to be stopped.

Then there were massive weather problems.

Finally, on November 11, 2022, the SLS rocket with the Orion space capsule took off at 1:48 a.m. local time from the US spaceport in Cape Canaveral.

Moon mission: "Artemis 1" breaks "Apollo13" record

Ten days after the "Artemis 1" launch, the US space agency Nasa reported two success stories via Twitter: "Houston, we have a new record".

More than 400,000 kilometers - that's how far away the "Orion" capsule is from Earth.

With that, “Orion” has come further than any other “spacecraft made for humans”.

Previously, the Apollo 13 mission had set the record.

• The "Orion" capsule is over 400,000 kilometers (249,000 miles) from Earth.

  According to NASA, this is the longest distance ever for a human-made spacecraft.

  The previous record was set more than 50 years ago by the "Apollo 13" mission with 248,655 miles, according to a statement. 

• Before the record, "Orion" had entered the orbit of the moon.

Shortly before the record, the "Orion" capsule swung into lunar orbit as planned, NASA said.

This orbit is about 80,000 kilometers from the surface of the moon, which is why "Orion" needs six days for half an orbit.

The path of "Orion" can be followed on the Internet.

On the eleventh day, the space capsule will be more than 400,000 kilometers from Earth and 80,000 kilometers from the moon, flying at a speed of more than 3,000 km/h.

The capsule will orbit the moon in a direction opposite to that in which the moon orbits the earth.

According to Nasa, this orbit has the advantage that it is very stable and "Orion" consumes comparatively little fuel on it.

The "Artemis 1" mission set off for a first test launch on November 16 (local time) after months of postponements.

The “Orion” capsule was launched from the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome in the US state of Florida with the “Space Launch System” rocket.

A few days ago, she had approached the moon to within about 130 kilometers - she should not come that close to the moon again during the entire test mission.

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Artemis 1 is powered by the European Service Module (ESM), which also provides electricity, water and air, and keeps the spacecraft at the right temperature.

The unmanned capsule is said to be on the road for around two weeks before it is expected to return to earth on December 11 after around two million kilometers of flight.

The propulsion and supply unit should be separated from the crew module on return and burn up in the atmosphere.

NASA is pursuing ambitious plans with the Artemis mission.

The "Artemis 1" has no crew on board yet.

In 2025, however, humans are expected to land on the moon again.

No human has stepped on the moon since the Apollo mission in 1972.