NASA’s first Artemis mission returned to Earth today, making a textbook reentry and splashdown off Baja, California following a 25-day uncrewed flight test to the moon and back.
The Orion spacecraft traveled over 1.4 million miles, breaking numerous records along the way. It flew further beyond the moon than any vehicle made for humans has ever gone (270,000 miles from Earth), and stayed at the moon longer than any spacecraft made for humans has before.
At its closest Orion was just 80 miles above the lunar surface, flying over old Apollo landing sites on the way. At its farthest it was 40,000 miles, returning amazing views of both the moon and Earth together against the black of space. At times NASA even provided live views, when they had the extra bandwidth and were not sending / receiving loads of data to / from the spacecraft.
A new mission control center was made for Artemis too, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Once launched the mission was handed to them from the launch team at Kennedy. From that point on Artemis-1 was in the hands of Lead Flight Director Rick LaBrode.
AvGeekery was invited by NASA recently to meet Rick and see the new Mission Control for ourselves. Watch the video above for our chat with him at his station.
By all accounts, the mission was an enormous success, almost flawless from start to finish, and accomplished what NASA wanted. They intentionally stressed all the new hardware and systems beyond what astronauts will experience, before flying crew, to test validate and prove that they can send humans to the moon and back safely on the new spacecraft and giant Space Launch System rocket (SLS).
A new architecture for permanent lunar and deep-space human presence
Artemis is returning American to the moon in a more sustainable way than Apollo, and with 50 years more knowledge and experience gained in the time since, with modern tech incorporated into the design. NASA wants to establish a presence that supports regular lunar visits and operations, and builds foundations for human exploration beyond the moon over the coming decades.
The SLS rocket, Orion and ground support all make up what NASA calls their deep space exploration system, and Artemis-1 was the first integrated test of the new system on a real lunar mission.
It all, however, starts with a successful launch. NASA had some hiccups with fueling procedures for the new 322-ft tall rocket, but once launched the world’s most powerful booster executed flawlessly, thundering off its beachside Florida launch pad at Kennedy Space Center Nov 16 on nearly 9 million pounds of thrust to send Orion on its way.
“The splashdown of the Orion spacecraft – which occurred 50 years to the day of the Apollo 17 Moon landing – is the crowning achievement of Artemis I,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “For years, thousands of individuals have poured themselves into this mission, which is inspiring the world to work together to reach untouched cosmic shores. Today is a huge win for NASA, the United States, our international partners, and all of humanity.”
Artemis-1 Returned Spectacular Views
Orion arrived at the moon on
NASA tested several aspects of Orion needed for future deep space crewed missions, including firing it’s thrusters and propulsion system to maintain course with precision and ensure its crew can get home, communication and navigation systems to maintain contact with the ground and orient Orion, and tested systems and features to handle radiation events. Engineers also tested Orion’s star trackers to determine their sensitivity to thermal variations.
Reentry, the most critical test before putting astronauts onboard
Upon arriving back to Earth the Orion’s service module was jettisoned, followed by the capsule performing a skip entry technique, dipping into the upper atmosphere and using spacecraft’s lift to “skip” back out, then reenter for final descent under parachutes and splash down.
NAVY and NASA recovery crews on the USS Portland were meanwhile on standby at the splashdown point, waiting for the capsule as it came screaming through the atmosphere at Mach 32, shrouded within a fireball hotter than the surface of the sun.
At an altitude of about five miles three small parachutes deployed to pull the forward bay covers away, followed by two drogue parachutes to slow and stabilize Orion for main parachute deployment, which occurred at 9,500 feet as the spacecraft was slowing through 130 mph. Minutes later Orion splashed down at a gentle 20mph, deploying five bright-orange helium-filled bags on the top of the capsule to upright it in the event it stabilizes upside down. It all worked exactly as NASA hoped, as the spacecraft floated upright waiting to be recovered.
Crews in helicopters and inflatable boats however had to wait a couple hours before accessing the capsule, for various reasons, the least of which being waiting for it to vent off ammonia. Engineers also performed several additional tests and data gathering while Orion was in the water, before powering it down handing it over to the recovery team.
lines and tow into the ship well-deck. Then soft-land the capsule into a cradle to secure it.
“This test flight is what we need to prove we can safely fly with crew
