Artemis I Orion, a NASA spacecraft that was launched on November 16 and is now in lunar orbit, will return to Earth on Thursday. Since November 25, the spacecraft has been in far retrograde orbiting the Moon.
Since the US space agency views the vehicle as successful and has added new test objectives as a result, NASA has begun putting its various systems to the test.
On December 11, the capsule is anticipated to splash down at sea.
If the mission is successful, a crewed Artemis II voyage around the moon and back might happen as early as 2024, and the program’s first lunar landing of astronauts—among them a woman—with Artemis III will happen within a few years.
One of the main goals is to test Orion’s heat shield’s resilience as it approaches Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 24,500 miles (39,400 km/h), which is far quicker than re-entry from the space station.
Additionally, 10 miniature science satellites will be launched by the spacecraft to map the outlines of ice deposits at the moon’s south pole, where Artemis eventually plans to build up a base for astronaut landings.
The 25-day Orion voyage for the three-week Artemis I mission entails getting the spacecraft to within 97 km of the lunar surface before continuing on to fly around 64,400 km beyond the moon and circling back to Earth.
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