NASA’s unmanned mission called Artemis 1 made history on Monday when the Orion spacecraft traveled the farthest distance ever made by any spacecraft from Earth: 434,522 kilometers (270,000 miles). In this way he exceeded the Apollo 13 record distance, as this day marked the halfway point of the journey that began in Florida on November 16th.
Rick Labrode, flight director of the Artemis I, confirmed in a press conference held at the Johnson Space Center in Houston (Texas), that at 16:06 the flight was aborted. “an important milestone” has been reached with the distance reached by Orion and its three mannequins on board, since they left the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral.
The Orion capsule, traveling at 5,102 mph (8,200 km/hour), thus broke the record for the furthest distance traveled by Earth from any spacecraft designed to be manned by humans, according to NASA.
As it flies in a far retrograde lunar orbit, meaning it is far from the Moon and in an opposite orbit to the satellite’s path around the Earth, the Orion spacecraft continues to transmit high-resolution live 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 paving the way for deep space living and working in a hostile environment and ultimately getting humans to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
On the thirteenth flight day of the Artemis 1 mission, after traveling hundreds of thousands of kilometers around the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, the ship’s commander, mannequin Moonikin Campos, assured via Twitter that he had “a very busy day” take selfies with the moon in the background and collect data from lunar orbit.
The mannequin, which at the same time is a superhero in a NASA comic, is named in honor of the American Arturo Campos, an electrical engineer of Mexican origin who was “fundamental” in saving the Apollo 13 crew, according to the US . space agency.
On Friday, Orion entered a distant lunar orbit, where the spacecraft will remain for about a week to test various systems in a deep-space environment, approximately 40,000 miles above the lunar surface, before beginning its journey back to Earth. .
A week ago, the mission achieved another major milestone, its closest lunar approach, flying just 80 miles (128km) above the lunar surface.
Orion is scheduled to return to Earth on December 11th with a splashdown off the coast of California in the Pacific Ocean after a voyage of 25 days, 11 hours and 36 minutes, according to NASA data.
The overall goal of the Artemis program is to establish a base on the Moon as a preliminary step to reaching Mars in the future. To do this, after Artemis I, NASA will launch Artemis II into lunar orbit in 2024, with a crew. Artemis III is expected to take off in 2025, a mission in which the astronauts, including a woman, would touch the ground of the satellite.
Artemis 1 and one game late
NASA had to delay the start of the mission four times, twice for technical reasons and two more 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 this month, at 3:47 am Argentine time.
The green light was confirmed after inspections earlier today revealed no structural damage following Hurricane Nicole’s passage through Florida. Hours before liftoff, the fuel tank of the Space Launch System (SLS), the monumental rocket charged with launching the mission, was filled.
Meanwhile, NASA channels have begun broadcasting content relating to the operation ten hours in advance, including any news on the status and evolution of the mission.
Artemis took off from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, with an inclination of 28.5 degrees towards the Equator.
Finally, the SLS, the largest and most powerful of all of NASA’s rockets, taller than a 30-story building (322 feet or 98 meters), took off from Florida propelling Orion. Billed as an uncrewed test flight, Artemis I is the first in a series of “increasingly complex” missions to develop a long-term human presence on the Moon for decades to come.
How was the launch
At the end of the launch, the thrusters detached and the central stage of the launch system separated from the spacecraft, leaving Orion attached to an Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) that will propel it towards the Moon.
It concerns a maneuver known as a “translunar injection” whereby a point around the satellite is precisely aimed to guide Orion close enough to be captured by lunar gravity.
Two hours after departure, Orion will separate from this leg to continue its journey to the Moon powered by a European Space Agency (ESA) module that will correct course if necessary along the way.
With information from EFE.
IS
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.