NASA: The Orion ship has returned to Earth and a fundamental step has been taken for humanity to settle on the Moon

The Orion capsule has successfully returned to Earth this Sunday, after having spent 25 days circumnavigating the Moon, in what was the closure of the historic Artemis I unmanned mission, the spearhead of the program that NASA implements to return humanity to the satellitebut with the intention of establishing a permanent presence.

The Orion crashed into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Baja California (Mexico), at the scheduled time, around 11.40 pm local time (2.40 pm in Argentina), after deploying a system of eleven parachutes in the expected sequence which allowed for the speed to be reduced by approximately 325 miles per hour (523 km/h) to just under the 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) at which it dived.

A few minutes earlier, the ship had reached Earth’s atmosphere en route 40,000 km/h per hour, equivalent to 32 times the speed of sound, and was at an altitude of 122,000 meters.

During the process of passing through the atmosphere the ship experienced up to 2,800 degrees in temperatureequivalent to half the surface of the Sun and for which he tested an innovative five-metre-wide heat shield.

“The last chapter of NASA’s journey to the Moon draws to a close. Orion, back on Earth”, confirmed Rob Navias, of NASA’s communications office, during the descent transmitted by the space agency, while the images showed the capsule floating in the waters of the Pacific.

About ten minutes later, helicopters sent by the USS Portland of the US Navy flew over the capsule and confirmed to mission controllers the good condition of the ship after its descent, which concluded a journey in which Orion covered 2.2 million kilometers since takeoff on November 16.

“It’s historic, we’re starting a new phase in deep space with a new generation of technology,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said emotionally in statements to the US space agency after the spacecraft’s arrival.

A few weeks ago, Artemis had reached the maximum distance reached by any ship from Earth: 434,522 kilometers. In this way she surpassed the Apollo 13 record distance.

The mission flew in a far retrograde lunar orbit, meaning it is far from the Moon and in an orbit opposite to that satellite’s path around the Earth. From there he broadcast live high-resolution images.

According to Space.com, the new images represent the high-definition live view from beyond the Moon to date, although several Apollo missions broadcast from that area in the 1960s and 1970s, he added.

“Artemis is leading the way for living and working in space deep into a hostile environment and ultimately bring humans to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The mission achieved another major milestone, its closest lunar approach, flying just 128 km above the lunar surface. It has also previously tested various systems in a deep-space environment, some 63,000 kilometers above the lunar surface.

NASA had to delay the departure of the mission four times, two for technical reasons and another two for meteorological reasons. After some mechanical and meteorological setbacks – which forced the launch to be postponed four times – NASA’s Artemis I mission took off on Wednesday 16 of last month, at 3:47 in the morning, Argentine time.

It was in total about 25 days of sailing. After today’s return, NASA plans to send Artemis II in 2024 and the following year Artemis III, in which astronauts, including a woman and a black man, will touch the ground of the satellite for the first time since 1972, when those sent to the Moon with the Apollo XVII mission did.

With information from EFE