NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California at 12:40 p.m. ET on December 10, 2022. The splashdown is the final milestone of the Artemis I mission that began with a successful liftoff of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket November 16, 2022, from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
NASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11, 2022, after a 25.5 day mission to the Moon. Image credit: NASA.
“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.
“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 the Artemis Generation of lunar exploration.”
“It wouldn’t be possible without the incredible NASA team. 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.”
“With Orion safely returned to Earth we can begin to see our next mission on the horizon which will fly crew to the Moon for the first time as a part of the next era of exploration,” added Jim Free, NASA associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate.
“This begins our path to a regular cadence of missions and a sustained human presence at the Moon for scientific discovery and to prepare for human missions to Mars.”
Orion reached a maximum distance of nearly 434,500 km (270,000 miles) from Earth during the Artemis I flight test before beginning its journey back toward Earth. Orion captured imagery of the Earth and Moon together from its distant lunar orbit, including this image on November 28, 2022, taken from camera on one of the spacecraft’s solar array wings. Image credit: NASA.
During the mission, the Orion spacecraft performed two lunar flybys, coming within 129 km (80 miles) of the lunar surface.
At its farthest distance during the mission, Orion traveled nearly 434,500 km (270,000 miles) from our home planet, more than 1,000 times farther than where the International Space Station orbits Earth, to intentionally stress systems before flying crew.
Prior to entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the crew module separated from its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA.
During re-entry, Orion endured temperatures about half as hot as the surface of the Sun at about 2,760 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit).
Within about 20 minutes, the spacecraft slowed from nearly 40,000 km per hour (25,000 mph) to about 32 km per hour (20 mph) for its parachute-assisted splashdown.
During the flight test, Orion stayed in space longer than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has done without docking to a space station.
While in a distant lunar orbit, the spacecraft surpassed the record for distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans, previously set during Apollo 13.
In the coming days, Orion will return to shore where technicians will offload the spacecraft and transfer it by truck back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Once at Kennedy, teams will open the hatch and unload several payloads, including Commander Moonikin Campos, the space biology experiments, Snoopy, and the official flight kit.
Next, the capsule and its heat shield will undergo testing and analysis over the course of several months.
“Orion has returned from the Moon and is safely back on planet Earth,” Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin.
“With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated that Orion can withstand the extreme conditions of returning through Earth’s atmosphere from lunar velocities.”
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This article is based on text provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
