NASA announced the return of the Artemis I mission to Earth. The Orion capsule successfully completed its space flight in the Pacific Ocean, where it made a “perfect landing”. What’s next for us?
On Sunday, NASA announced the completion of the historic Artemis I mission to the moon. Over the past few days, the Orion capsule has been approaching Earth to begin re-entry into our planet’s atmosphere and land in the Pacific Ocean at the end of the weekend. Ocean.
Artemis I Mission - NASA Orion returned to Earth
“We had the perfect fit. It was the perfect launch,” said Melissa Jones, NASA director of capsule landing and recovery.
The US space agency scientists could breathe a sigh of relief after the latest perilous leg of the mission - Orion’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. The capsule approached the planet at a dizzying speed of 40,000 kilometers per hour, heating the shell to 2800 degrees Celsius.
Then the system with three parachutes deployed properly, and Orion, as planned, fell into the Pacific Ocean. Then 5 balloons are automatically inflated, fixing the capsule in the water. NASA waited about 2 hours before the recovery of the capsule began. This allowed scientists to collect more data on how Orion releases thermal energy.
The US Navy ship USS Portland has been on hold in the launch area for some time now. Military helicopters flew over the capsule for the first inspection and found no external damage to the Orion.
Now the Navy is recovering the capsule from Mexican Baja California. The Orion will land on December 13 and will be delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on December 15.
The Artemis I mission is just the beginning
As we wrote in Wprost.pl, the historic mission of Artemis I is only the beginning of an ambitious NASA program. The US agency wants American astronauts to return to the lunar surface after more than 50 years.
The first mission was to test the technology and make adjustments. So, NASA starts with flights to the Silver Globe orbit. Without the presence of astronauts (Artemis I), then with the presence of people (Artemis II). Finally, he will arrive on earth along with people as part of Artemis III. As we remember, only the Apollo 11 mission landed on the Moon. However, the first landing is only part of the ambitious goals of the United States.
NASA plans to create an orbital base Gateway, similar to the ISS, flying in low Earth orbit. Thanks to this infrastructure, astronauts will first find themselves on the analogue of the ISS, and only from the base in orbit will they go to the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite.
Source: Wprost
