The Orion spacecraft crashed in the Pacific Ocean. Sunday morning, successfully completing NASA’s Artemis I Mission. After months of difficulties getting the SLS megarocket off the ground, the spacecraft flew over the Moon’s orbit and safely returned to Earth.
In total there were more than 2.2 million kilometers traveled. Now it is the turn to analyze the consequences of radiation on the ship and on the dummies, thinking about the astronauts that will be launched on the following missions.
Let’s remember that NASA’s Artemis Program seeks to take the first woman and the next man to the Moon, in order to establish a base on the satellite in the future.
“A great victory”, according to Bill Nelson (NASA)
The SLS megarocket and Orion spacecraft were launched by NASA on November 16 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For 25 and a half days, the spacecraft was tested in the deep space environment, performing two lunar flybys, 128 kilometers from the lunar surface.
“From the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket, to the exceptional journey around the Moon and back to Earth, this flight test is a major step forward in Generation Artemis lunar exploration,” said Bill Nelson, Administrator. from NASA.
“It wouldn’t be possible without the incredible team at NASA. Over the years, thousands of people have dedicated themselves to this mission, which is inspiring the world to work together to reach pristine cosmic shores.”
And Nelson added: “This is a great victory for NASA, the United States, our international partners and all of humanity.”
Teams from the aerospace agency will take the Orion spacecraft to Kennedy, where they will open the hatch and remove the payloads, such as test dummies with sensors, space biology experiments, and the official flight kit.
Subsequently, both the capsule and the heat shield will undergo examination and analysis. This will last several months.
Artemis II and Artemis III, the next targets of NASA
What’s next in the Artemis Program? The Artemis II and Artemis III missions.
In the second part, the selected astronauts will follow the same route as Artemis I, flying over the Moon’s orbit until they return to Earth.
Astronauts are expected to reach the lunar surface for Artemis III, an event that occurs for the first time since 1972. Back then, Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt toured part of the natural satellite as part of the Apollo 17 Mission, with Ronald Evans as the command module pilot.
The goal of the Artemis Program, in the words of NASA: “Pave the way for a long-term lunar presence, serving as a springboard for astronauts on the way to Mars.”