WASHINGTON: NASA’s Orion space capsule touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, completing the Artemis 1 mission – a more than 25-day journey around the moon before humans return there in just a few years.
After racing through Earth’s atmosphere at 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h), the unbuilt capsule floated into the ocean with the help of three large red and orange parachutes, as seen on NASA TV.
“NASA had a picture-perfect splashdown,” said Melissa Jones, NASA’s landing and recovery director.
During its orbiting satellites and back, Orion traveled more than a million miles and traveled farther from Earth than any previous habitable spacecraft.
“Over the years, thousands of people have committed themselves to this mission, inspiring the world to work together to reach untouched cosmic beaches,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“Today is a huge win for NASA, the United States, our international partners and all of humanity,” he added.
After touchdown, helicopters flew over the floating spacecraft, which showed no evidence of damage.
We're back after a 1.4 million mile journey around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/f3e5Ov1M2E
— Orion Spacecraft (@NASA_Orion) December 11, 2022
After some initial tests, Orion will be recovered by a US Navy ship off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
As it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, the gumdrop-shaped capsule had to withstand temperatures of 2,800 degrees Celsius (5,000 Fahrenheit) — about half the surface temperature of the Sun.
The main purpose of the mission was to test Orion’s heat shield — for the day when it’s human, not the puppets riding inside.
Success in that mission was key for NASA, which has invested tens of billions of dollars in the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon and prepare for future trips to Mars someday. .
The first test of the capsule was carried out in 2014, but during that time it remained in Earth orbit and returned to the atmosphere at a speed of about 20,000 miles per hour.
Helicopters, divers and boats
The USS Portland was tasked with retrieving the Orion capsule in an exercise that NASA had been practicing for years. Helicopters and boats were also deployed.
The falling spacecraft slowed to 20 miles per hour as it finally hit the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.
NASA then planned to let Orion float for two hours to collect data — much longer than if the astronauts were inside.
“We’ll see how the heat gets back into the crew module and how that affects the temperature inside,” Jim Gaffry, NASA’s Orion vehicle integration manager, said last week.
Divers will then attach cables to hoist Orion onto the USS Portland, an amphibious transport dock ship whose stern will be partially submerged. This water will be slowly ejected so that the spacecraft can rest on a platform designed to hold it.
Splashdown.
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) December 11, 2022
The @NASA_Orion spacecraft successfully completed a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 12:40pm ET (17:40 UTC) as the final major milestone of the #Artemis I mission. https://t.co/9lQMzsZhHh pic.twitter.com/mUptc3RCw3
All of this should take about four to six hours after splashdown.
The Navy ship will then depart for San Diego, California, where the spacecraft will be unloaded a few days later.
Orion has now traveled 1.4 million miles since taking off from Florida’s east coast on November 16, aided by a rocket called SLS.
At its closest approach to the Moon, it flew less than 80 miles from the surface. And it broke the record for the distance of a habitable capsule from our planet, 268,000 miles away at its farthest point.
Artemis 2 and 3
Recovering the spacecraft will allow NASA to collect data that is critical for future missions.
This includes information about the spacecraft’s condition after flight, data from monitors that measure acceleration and vibration, and the performance of a special vest worn on a mannequin in the capsule to test how it performs during spaceflight. How to protect people from radiation.
Some of the capsule’s components should be good for reuse in the Artemis 2 mission, which is already in advanced planning stages.
The mission, planned for 2024, would take a crew to the Moon without landing on it. NASA is expected to name the selected astronauts soon.
Artemis 3, scheduled for 2025, will be the first spacecraft to land on the moon’s south pole, where they hope to find water in the form of ice.
As part of the Artemis mission, NASA plans to send a woman and a person of color to the moon for the first time.
Only 12 people – all of them white men – have set foot on the moon. This was during NASA’s historic Apollo missions, which ended in 1972.
NASA hopes for a permanent human presence on the Moon, with a base on the surface as well as an orbiting space station. Learning to live on the moon will help engineers develop technologies for a years-long journey to Mars, possibly as late as the 2030s.
