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NASA's historic Artemis I mission is drawing to a close

2022-12-06T06:51:39.348Z


The historic Artemis I mission, which sent an uncrewed spacecraft on an unprecedented journey around the Moon, will splash down on December 11.


Orion ship of the Artemis I mission begins the return home 1:00

(CNN) --

The historic Artemis I mission, which sent an uncrewed spacecraft on an unprecedented journey around the Moon, is now in the home stretch of its historic journey.


Orion, as NASA's new space capsule is called, passed the Moon's surface again Monday morning, capturing views of notable lunar sites, including a pair of Apollo landing sites.

The spacecraft then passed within 128.7 kilometers of the lunar surface, its second close flyby of the Moon.

Orion fired its main engine for about three and a half minutes, the longest burn of its voyage thus far.

The ignition of the engine put the capsule on its final journey home, beginning the last leg of its 25-and-a-half-day journey.

  • NASA's Orion spacecraft reaches the farthest distance from Earth on the Artemis I mission

The Artemis I mission took off on November 16, when NASA's troubled and long-delayed SLS (Space Launch System) rocket launched the Orion capsule into space, cementing its status as the most powerful operational launch vehicle ever built.

The thrust of the SLS rocket exceeded by 15% that of the Saturn V rocket, which drove the moon landings of the 20th century.

Orion separated from the rocket after reaching space and has since made a circumnavigation of the Moon.

About a week ago, the capsule entered what is called a "far retrograde orbit" around the Moon, allowing it to rotate more than 40,000 miles past the far side of our moon.

This is the greatest distance ever achieved by a spacecraft designed to transport human beings.

The spacecraft is now preparing to cross the gap of 384,400 kilometers that separates the Moon from the Earth.

It is expected to plunge back into Earth's atmosphere on December 11, a process that will create enough pressure to heat its exterior to more than 2,760°C.

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If there were astronauts on board, they would be protected by a heat shield.

NASA's Orion capsule captures a view of the "Earth rise" as it emerges from the far side of the Moon.

Credit: NASA

At the time of reentry, Orion will be traveling at 20,000 miles per hour, or more than 26 times the speed of sound.

All that energy will be dispersed when the capsule crashes back into Earth's thick inner atmosphere and then releases its parachutes to further slow its descent before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

In total, the Orion capsule will have traveled more than 2 million kilometers in space.

NASA has been preparing for this mission for more than a decade.

Upon successful completion, the space agency will choose a crew for the Artemis II mission, which could take off in 2024. The goal of Artemis II will be to send astronauts on a trajectory similar to that of Artemis I, flying around the Moon, but without land on its surface.

Artemis I takes new images from space 1:41

This could pave the way for the Artemis III mission, scheduled to launch in 2025, in which a woman and a person of color are expected to land on the Moon for the first time.

It would also mark the first human visit to the lunar surface in half a century.

Howard Hu, director of the Orion program, told the media last week that the spacecraft's performance has been "outstanding."

The space agency had to solve some minor problems, such as an unexpected cut in communications that lasted almost an hour.

But NASA officials said there had been no major problems and that, so far, the mission had been a resounding success.

Artemis I Mission

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-12-06

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