The Artemis I space mission reaches Earth after 26 days of voyage around the Moon

The Artemis I space mission is back on Earth after a 26-day voyage around the Moon.

Everything as planned by NASA, the

which will take astronauts to the satellite in the coming years, has landed at a point in the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guadalupe, shortly before seven in the afternoon (Spanish peninsular time). ).

Previously, the spacecraft's service module, which provides air, water, electricity, propulsion and temperature control to the crew capsule, had separated from the

and burned up in the atmosphere.

The return of the mission ship Artemis I

to Earth happens on a designated date: this Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the last time that two astronauts — military pilot Gene Cernan and geologist Harrison Schmitt, from Apollo 17 —

foot on the Moon.

With the controlled plunge of

into the waters of the Pacific —NASA has confirmed that the ship has not suffered damage—, the first step of humanity to return to the Moon culminates.

Point and followed.

The mission

Artemis I has been the key test before launching the great expedition of this space program: taking four crew members on a circumnavigation trip of the Moon —Artemis II— in 2024 and, a year later, achieving that the first woman and the first black person to set foot on the lunar surface.

Unlike the Apollo space program, designed to set foot on the Moon, the Artemis program—named after the Greek goddess, the twin sister of the god Apollo—takes the satellite as a springboard to its most ambitious goal: sending a human expedition to Mars from 2040.

Splashdown.

After traveling 1.4 million miles through space, orbiting the Moon, and collecting data that will prepare us to send astronauts on future #Artemis missions, the @NASA_Orion spacecraft is home.

pic.twitter.com/ORxCtGa9v7

— NASA (@NASA) December 11, 2022

After two failed launch attempts, the third time was the charm and the Artemis I ship

took off on November 16 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida (United States).

The objective of this first space mission was to test NASA's new Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket in history, weighing 2,600 tons and taller than a 17-story building.

This time, the ship was unmanned: on board were only three mannequins and two dolls of fictional characters (the dog Snoopy and the sheep

Shaun), who have traveled more than two million kilometers over the lunar surface.

During its journey through space, the Artemis I ship

suffered some blackout in communication, but it was restored shortly after.

has also sent images of its journey and, on its route around the Moon, it detached from a dozen small satellites with various missions, such as trying to detect hidden ice in the celestial body or analyzing the plasma present in the vicinity of the Moon. .

On the sixth day of the Artemis I mission, a camera mounted on Orion's solar panels captured the spacecraft and the Moon.NASA

The most critical moment of the mission, and the main reason it was launched, was to test the planet's reentry system.

Specifically, the

since the friction of the air as it enters the Earth raises the outside temperature of the ship to almost 3,000 degrees: just after detaching the service module from the manned capsule and in barely 20 minutes, the

it goes from almost 40,000 kilometers per hour —32 times the speed of sound— to barely 30 when it touches the surface of the sea, a ferocious descent that causes the brutal external heating of the capsule by friction with the atmosphere.

For this reason, that the entire heat shield of the ship works perfectly is key to guaranteeing the return of the astronauts when it is manned.

After half past six in the afternoon (Spanish peninsular time), the

ready to slow it down, and some inflatable rubber balls to keep it face up despite the waves.

Navy ship

is in charge of recovering the capsule, although the process will take about six hours: the forecast is to leave the ship with all electrical systems on for two hours to study how heat is dissipated and what the temperature is inside.

NASA's plans include towing it later to a naval base in San Diego (California, United States) and then moving it to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to continue evaluating the capsule.

More than 30,000 people have participated in the Artemis I mission and international cooperation has been necessary.

The United States has manufactured the crew capsule, but the European Space Agency (ESA) has been commissioned to build the service module that provides oxygen and water to the astronauts and propulsion and electricity (via solar panels) to the ship. .

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