posted 11-21-2022 07:05 AM               

NASA's Artemis I spacecraft flies by moon with Apollo 11 lunar soil aboard

Four small pieces of the moon on board NASA's Orion spacecraft have come closer to the lunar surface than they have been in the more than 50 years since they were collected.

The lunar samples' return home — or, at least, their quick flyby of the world from where they came — was part of a larger journey to prepare for people to do the same. The quad of dust specks, which were first brought back to Earth by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969, came within 80 miles (130 km) of the moon on Monday (Nov. 21) as part of NASA's Artemis I mission.

posted 11-23-2022 07:31 AM               

Orion to Test Search Acquire and Track Mode, Exit Lunar Sphere of Influence

At 1:02 a.m. EST (0602 GMT) on Tuesday (Nov. 22), Orion completed the fifth outbound trajectory correction by firing the European service module's auxiliary engines for 5.9 seconds, which changed Orion's velocity by 3.2 feet per second.

The R-4D-11 auxiliary engines are a variant of the flight proven R-4D engine, which was originally developed for the Apollo program and was employed on every mission to the moon. The engines are positioned at the bottom of the service module in four sets of two, and each provide about 100 pounds of thrust. In total, Orion's service module has 33 engines of various sizes and serves as the powerhouse for the spacecraft, providing propulsion capabilities that enable Orion to go around the Moon and back on its exploration missions.

The team in the White Flight Control Room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston continued testing the spacecraft's star trackers to determine their sensitivity to thermal variations as part of planned testing, and engineers used the optical navigation system to gather additional imagery of the Moon. The star trackers and optical navigation system are part of Orion's advanced guidance, navigation, and control system, responsible for always knowing where the spacecraft is located in space, which way it's pointed, and where it's going. It even controls the propulsion system to keep the spacecraft on the correct path. The optical navigation can serve later in this mission and in future missions as a backup, ensuring a safe trip home should the spacecraft lose communications.

Overnight, flight controllers were scheduled to conduct the search acquire and track (SAT) mode developmental test objective. SAT mode is an algorithm intended to recover and maintain communications with Earth after loss of Orion's navigation state, extended loss of communications with Earth, or after a temporary power loss that causes Orion to reboot hardware. To test the algorithm, flight controllers will command the spacecraft to enter SAT mode, and after about 15 minutes, restore normal communications. Testing SAT mode will give engineers confidence it can be relied upon as the final option to fix a loss of communications when crew are aboard.

Orion will exit the lunar sphere of influence, or the gravitational pull of the moon, at 11:31 p.m. EST (0431 GMT Nov. 23) and continue traveling toward distant retrograde orbit. Shortly before entering the orbit, Orion will travel about 57,287 miles beyond the moon at its farthest point from the lunar surface during the mission.

On Saturday, Nov. 26, Orion will pass the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed for humans at 248,655 miles from Earth, and the spacecraft will reach its maximum distance from Earth of 268,552 miles Monday, Nov. 28.

Just after 5 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) on Nov. 22, Orion was traveling over 208,000 miles from Earth and was over 36,000 miles from the Moon, cruising at over 3,000 miles per hour.

posted 11-23-2022 10:59 AM               

Communications Restored After Unexpected Loss of Acquisition

NASA's Mission Control Center at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston unexpectedly lost data to and from the spacecraft on Wednesday (Nov. 23) at 1:09 a.m. EST (0609 GMT) for 47 minutes while reconfiguring the communication link between Orion and Deep Space Network overnight.

The reconfiguration has been conducted successfully several times in the last few days, and the team is investigating the cause of the loss of signal.

The team resolved the issue with a reconfiguration on the ground side. Engineers are examining data from the event to help determine what happened, and the command and data handling officer will be downlinking data recorded onboard Orion during the outage to include in that assessment.

There was no impact to Orion, and the spacecraft remains in a healthy configuration.

posted 11-24-2022 10:59 AM               

Orion Exits the Lunar Sphere Of Influence

On the eighth day of its mission, Orion continued to travel farther away from the moon in preparation of entering a distant retrograde orbit.

Orion exited the gravitational sphere of influence of the moon on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at 10:49 p.m. EST (0349 GMT Nov. 23) at a lunar altitude of 39,993 miles. The spacecraft will reach its farthest distance from the moon on Friday (Nov. 25), just before performing the next major burn to enter the orbit. The distant retrograde orbit insertion burn is the second in a pair of maneuvers required to propel Orion into the stable orbit that requires minimal fuel consumption while traveling around the moon.

Above: Flight Day 7 (Nov. 22, 2022), Orion’s optical navigation camera captured the far side of the moon, as the spacecraft orbited 81.1 miles above the surface, heading for a distant retrograde orbit.

While in transit to the distant retrograde orbit, engineers conducted the first part of the propellant tank slosh development flight test, called prop slosh, which is scheduled during quiescent, or less active, parts of the mission. The test calls for flight controllers to fire the reaction control system thrusters when propellant tanks are filled to different levels. Engineers measure the effect the propellant sloshing has on spacecraft trajectory and orientation as Orion moves through space. The test is performed after the outbound flyby burn and again after the return flyby burn to compare data at points in the mission with different levels of propellant onboard.

Propellant motion, or slosh, in space is difficult to model on Earth because liquid propellant moves differently in tanks in space than on Earth due to the lack of gravity. The reaction control thrusters are located on the sides of the service module in six sets of four. These engines are in fixed positions and can be fired individually as needed to move the spacecraft in different directions or rotate it into any position. Each engine provides about 50 pounds of thrust.

As of Wednesday (Nov. 23), a total of about 3,971 pounds of propellant has been used, about 147 pounds less than prelaunch expected values. There is more than 2,000 pounds of margin available over what is planned for use during the mission, an increase of about 74 pounds from prelaunch expected values.

Just after 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) on Nov. 23, Orion was traveling about 212,437 miles from Earth and was more than 48,064 miles from the Moon, cruising at 2,837 miles per hour.

posted 11-25-2022 11:43 AM               

Nearing Distant Retrograde Insertion

Orion is nearing entering into a distant retrograde orbit around the moon. The orbit is "distant" in the sense that it's at a high altitude approximately 50,000 miles from the surface of the Moon. Due to the distance, the orbit is so large that it will take the spacecraft six days to complete half of a revolution around the moon before exiting the orbit for the return journey back to Earth.

Above: On Flight Day 8, NASA's Orion spacecraft was two days away from reaching its distant retrograde orbit. The moon is in view as Orion snaps a selfie using a camera mounted on one of its solar array at 10:57 p.m. EST on Wednesday (Nov. 23).

During the last day in the transit to distant retrograde orbit, flight controllers performed a third in a series of planned star tracker development flight tests relative to the Sun, with a fourth planned for Friday (Nov. 25). Star trackers are a navigation tool that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation. In the first three flight days, engineers evaluated initial data to understand star tracker readings correlated to thruster firings.

The spacecraft completed its sixth outbound trajectory correction burn at 4:52 p.m. EST (2152 GMT) on Thursday, firing the European Service Module's auxiliary engines for 17 seconds to propel the spacecraft at 8.9 feet per second. This is the final trajectory correction before entering distant retrograde orbit. When in lunar orbit, Orion will perform three orbital maintenance burns to keep the spacecraft on course.

Overnight, engineers began a 24-hour test of the reaction control system engines to evaluate engine performance for standard and non-standard thruster configurations. This test will provide data to inform procedures and ensure that the reaction control thrusters can control Orion's orientation in an alternate configuration if there is an issue with the primary configuration.

Just after 2:42 p.m. EST on Nov. 24, Orion was traveling 222,993 miles from Earth and 55,819 miles from the Moon, cruising at 2,610 miles per hour.

posted 11-25-2022 04:52 PM               

Orion Enters Distant Retrograde Orbit

Flight controllers in the White Flight Control Room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully performed a burn to insert Orion into a distant retrograde orbit by firing the orbital maneuvering system engine for one minute and 28 seconds at 5:52 p.m. EST (2052 GMT) on Friday (Nov. 25), propelling the spacecraft at 363 feet per second.

Shortly before conducting the burn, Orion was traveling more than 57,000 miles above the lunar surface, marking the farthest distance it will reach from the moon during the mission. While in lunar orbit, flight controllers will monitor key systems and perform checkouts while in the environment of deep space.

The orbit is distant in that Orion will fly about 40,000 miles above the moon. Due to the distance of the orbit, it will take Orion nearly a week to complete half an orbit around the moon, where it will exit for the return journey home. About four days later, the spacecraft will harness the moon's gravitational force once again, combined with a precisely timed lunar flyby burn to slingshot it onto its return course to Earth ahead of splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday, Dec. 11.

On Saturday, Nov. 26, Orion spacecraft will break the record for farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans to space and safely return them to Earth. This distance is currently held by the Apollo 13 spacecraft at 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from Earth. Orion was specifically designed for missions to carry humans farther into space than ever before.

On Artemis I, engineers are testing several aspects of the Orion spacecraft needed for deep space missions with crew, including its highly capable propulsion system to maintain its course with precision and ensure its crew can get home, communication and navigation systems to maintain contact with the ground and orient the spacecraft, systems and features to handle radiation events, as well as a heat shield that can handle a high-speed reentry from the moon. Both distance and duration demand that spacecraft must have systems that can reliably operate far from home, be capable of keeping astronauts alive in case of emergencies and still be light enough that a rocket can launch it.

Artemis II will test the systems required for astronauts to live and breathe in deep space. Long duration missions far from Earth drive engineers to design compact systems not only to maximize available space for crew comfort, but also to accommodate the volume needed to carry consumables like enough food and water for the entirety of a mission lasting days or weeks.

posted 11-26-2022 07:45 AM               

NASA's Artemis I Orion capsule flies past record distance set by Apollo 13

Houston, we have a new record holder.

NASA's Artemis I Orion capsule has now traveled farther beyond Earth than any spacecraft designed to carry astronauts. The uncrewed Orion flew past the record-setting distance achieved by the Apollo 13 command module "Odyssey" at 248,655 miles from Earth (216,075 nautical miles or 400,171 kilometers) at about 8:40 a.m. EST (1340 GMT) on Saturday (Nov. 26).

posted 11-27-2022 09:04 PM               

Star Trackers, Reaction Control Thrusters Tested

On the 12th day of the Artemis I mission, team members conducted another planned test of the star trackers aboard Orion as it continued along a distant retrograde orbit of the moon, and began another reaction control thruster flight test.

Engineers hope to characterize the alignment between the star trackers and the Orion inertial measurements units, both of which are part of the guidance, navigation and control system, by exposing different areas of the spacecraft to the Sun and activating the star trackers in different thermal states. Star trackers are navigation tools that measure the positions of stars to help the spacecraft determine its orientation. The inertial measurement units contain three devices, called gyros, used to measure spacecraft body rotation rates, and three accelerometers used to measure spacecraft accelerations.

Together, the star tracker and inertial measurement unit data are used by Orion's vehicle management computers to compute spacecraft position, velocity, and attitude. The measurements will help engineers understand how thermal states affect the accuracy of the navigation state, which ultimately affects the amount of propellant needed for spacecraft maneuvers.

Engineers began a development flight test objective today (Nov. 27) that changed the minimum jet firing time for the reaction control thrusters over a period of 24 hours. This test objective is designed to exercise the reaction control system jets in a different configuration to model how thruster jets will be used for the crewed Artemis II mission.

Teams also activated and interacted with the Callisto payload, a technology demonstration from Lockheed Martin in collaboration with Amazon and Cisco. Callisto is located in the Orion cabin and will test voice activated and video technology in the deep space environment.

On Monday (Nov. 28), Orion will reach its farthest distance from Earth when it is nearly 270,000 miles from our home planet.

As of 5:30 p.m. EST, Orion was over 264,000 miles from Earth and 45,600 miles from the moon, cruising at 1,750 miles per hour.

posted 11-28-2022 07:58 PM               

Orion Goes the (Max) Distance

NASA's Orion spacecraft reached the farthest distance from Earth it will travel during the Artemis I mission — 268,563 miles from our home planet — just after 4 p.m. EST on Monday (Nov. 28). The spacecraft also captured imagery of Earth and the moon together throughout the day, including of the moon appearing to eclipse Earth. 

Above: Orion reached its maximum distance from Earth on flight day 13 (Nov. 28) of the Artemis I mission.

Reaching the halfway point of a 25.5 day mission, the spacecraft remains in healthy condition as it continues its journey in distant retrograde orbit, an approximately six-day leg of its larger mission thousands of miles beyond the moon.  

"Because of the unbelievable can-do spirit, Artemis I has had extraordinary success and has completed a series of history making events," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "It's incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That's what we do – we test it and we stress it." 

Engineers had originally planned an orbital maintenance burn today but determined it was not necessary because of Orion's already precise trajectory in distant retrograde orbit.

Based on Orion's performance, managers are examining adding seven additional test objectives to further characterize the spacecraft's thermal environment and propulsion system to reduce risk before flying future missions with crew. To date, flight controllers have accomplished or are in the process of completing 37.5 percent of the test objectives associated with the mission, with many remaining objectives set to be evaluated during entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery. 

NASA's Exploration Ground Systems team and the U.S. Navy are beginning initial operations for recovery of Orion when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. The team will deploy Tuesday for training at sea before return to shore to make final preparations ahead of splashdown. 

Managers closed out today a team formed earlier in the mission to investigate readings associated with the spacecraft's star trackers after determining the hardware is performing as expected and initially suspect readings are a byproduct of the flight environment.   

Flight controllers also have completed nine of 19 translational burns and exercised the three types of engines on Orion – the main engine, auxiliary thrusters, and reaction control system thrusters. Approximately 5,640 pounds of propellants have been used, which is about 150 pounds fewer than prelaunch expected values. More than 2,000 pounds of margin remain available beyond what teams plan to use for the mission, an increase of more than 120 pounds from prelaunch expected values. So far, teams have already sent more than 2,000 files from the spacecraft to Earth. 

Just before 8 p.m. EST, Orion was 268,457 miles from Earth and 43,138 miles from the moon, cruising at 1,679 miles per hour.

posted 12-01-2022 09:54 AM               

'Go' For Distant Retrograde Orbit Departure

The Artemis I mission management team met on Wednesday (Nov. 30) to review the overall status of the flight test and polled "go" for Orion to depart from its distant retrograde orbit. Orion will conduct a burn to depart the orbit at 4:53 p.m. EST (2153 GMT) on Thursday and begin its trek back toward Earth.  

"We are continuing to collect flight test data and buy down risk for crewed flight," said Mike Sarafin, Artemis mission manager. "We continue to learn how the system is performing, where our margins are, and how to operate and work with the vehicle as an integrated team." 

On Flight Day 15, Orion also performed a planned orbit maintenance burn to maintain the spacecraft's trajectory and decrease its velocity ahead of its Thursday departure from a distant lunar orbit. During the burn, Orion used six of its auxiliary thrusters on the European Service module to fire for 95 seconds.

The burn was initially planned for a shorter duration but was lengthened as part of the team's effort to add test objectives to the mission. The 95-second burn provided additional data to characterize the thrusters and the radiative heating on the spacecraft's solar array wings to help inform Orion's operational constraints. All previous thruster burns were 17 seconds or less.  

Teams also elected to add four additional test objectives to Orion's return trip to Earth to gather additional data on the spacecraft's capabilities. Two will evaluate whether opening and closing a valve the pressure control assembly affects a slow leak rate in that system; a third will demonstrate Orion's ability to perform attitude maneuvers at the rate that will be necessary for a test on Artemis II; and the fourth will test its capability to fly in a three degree of freedom attitude control mode, as opposed to the six degree of freedom mode it typically flies in.

Prior to today's orbital maintenance burn, a total of 5,681 pounds of propellant had been used, 203 pounds less than values expected before launch. Some 2,004 pounds of margin is available beyond what is planned for use during the mission, a 94-pound increase above prelaunch expected values. 

Just after 5 p.m. EST on Nov. 30, Orion was traveling 253,079 miles from Earth and 50,901 miles from the moon, cruising at 2,052 mph.

posted 12-02-2022 01:01 AM               

Orion Departs Distant Retrograde Orbit

Orion has left its distant lunar orbit and is on its return journey home. The spacecraft successfully completed the distant retrograde departure burn at 4:53 p.m. EST (2153 GMT) on Thursday (Dec. 1), firing its main engine for 1 minute 45 seconds to set it on course for a close lunar flyby before heading back to Earth.

The burn changed Orion's velocity by about 454 feet per second and was performed using the Orion main engine on the European Service Module.

The burn is one of two maneuvers required ahead of Orion's splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11. The second will occur on Monday (Dec. 5), when the spacecraft will fly 79.2 miles above the lunar surface and perform the return powered flyby burn, which will commit Orion on its course toward Earth.

A trajectory correction burn was conducted at 10:53 p.m. EST on Thursday to fine-tune the spacecraft's path.

posted 12-02-2022 09:56 PM               

Orion Downlinks Data, Continues Test Objectives

On Friday (Dec. 2) teams collected additional images with Orion's optical navigation camera and downlinked a wide variety of data files to the ground, including data from the Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessor, or HERA. The radiation detector measures charged particles that pass through its sensors.

Measurements from HERA and several other radiation-related sensors and experiments aboard Artemis I will help NASA better understand the space radiation environment future crews will experience and develop effective protections. On crewed missions, HERA will be part of the spacecraft's caution and warning system and will sound a warning in the case of a solar energetic particle event, notifying the crew to take shelter. NASA is also testing a similar HERA unit aboard the International Space Station.

Orion carries other experiments to gather data on radiation, including several radiation area monitors about the size of a matchbox that record the total radiation dose during the mission, dosimeters provided by ESA (European Space Agency) mounted inside the cabin to collect radiation data with time stamps to allow scientists to assess dose rates during various mission phases, and three "purposeful passengers" collecting additional information on what crews will experience during future missions. Four space biology investigations, collectively called Biology Experiement-1, are examining the impact of deep space radiation on seeds, fungi, yeast, and algae.

Orion will reenter the lunar sphere of influence on Saturday (Dec. 3). It will exit the lunar sphere for a final time on Tuesday (Dec. 6), one day after its return powered flyby about 79 miles above the lunar surface. 

A total of about 7,940 pounds of propellant has been used, which is about 150 pounds less that the amount expected before launch. Approximately 2,040 pounds of margin is available beyond what flight controllers plan to use for the remainder of the mission, which is nearly 130 pounds more than expected amounts before launch. About 97 gigabytes of data have been sent to the ground by the spacecraft.  

Just after 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Dec. 2, Orion was traveling 229,812 miles from Earth and 50,516 miles from the moon, cruising at 2,512 miles per hour.

posted 12-05-2022 11:17 AM               

Before heading to Earth, NASA's Artemis I looks at Apollo moon sites

With one eye on the future and the other the past, NASA's Artemis I mission flew over the historic Apollo landing sites as it began its journey back to Earth.

After spending six days in a lunar distant retrograde orbit, the Artemis I Orion spacecraft fired its main engine on Thursday (Dec. 1) to set up its second close flyby of the moon on Monday. The pass, which at its closest was 79 miles (127 km) above the lunar surface, enabled the uncrewed capsule to use the moon's gravity, in addition to another burn by its engine, to accelerate its return home.

posted 12-07-2022 07:26 PM               

Orion Continues on its Journey Back to Earth

Orion continues its journey back to Earth on day 22 (Dec. 7) of the 25.5-day Artemis I mission with flight controllers and engineers continuing to test the spacecraft and its systems in preparation for future flights with humans aboard.

Engineers conducted the second part of the propellant tank slosh development flight test, called propellant slosh, which is scheduled during quiescent, or less active, parts of the mission. Propellant motion, or slosh, in space is difficult to model on Earth because liquid propellant moves differently in tanks in space than on Earth due to the lack of gravity.

The test calls for flight controllers to fire the reaction control system thrusters when propellant tanks are filled to different levels. The reaction control thrusters used are located on the sides of the service module and can be fired individually as needed to move the spacecraft in different directions or rotate it into any position. Each engine provides about 50 pounds of thrust Engineers measure the effect the propellant sloshing has on spacecraft trajectory and orientation as Orion moves through space.

The test was first performed after the outbound flyby burn, and now again after the return flyby burn, to compare data at points in the mission with different levels of propellant onboard. Approximately 12,060 pounds of propellant has been used, which is 215 pounds less than estimated prelaunch, and leaves a margin of 2,185 pounds over what is planned for use, 275 pounds more than prelaunch expectations. The first prop slosh test objective was completed on day eight of the mission as it prepared to enter the distant retrograde orbit.

A few key milestones for Orion remain, including the entry system check outs and propulsion system leak checks on mission days 24 and 25, respectively.

Just after 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) on Dec. 7, Orion was traveling 234,100 miles from Earth and 127,700 miles from the moon, cruising at 820 miles per hour.

posted 12-10-2022 08:34 AM               

Orion Heads Home

On Friday (Dec. 9), teams in Mission Control Houston conducted spacecraft system checks ahead of Orion's planned splashdown on Dec. 11, while the Exploration Ground Systems recovery team made its way toward the landing area off the Baja Coast near Guadalupe Island.

Flight controllers activated the crew module reaction control system heater and conducted a hot-fire test for each thruster as planned. The five pulses for each thruster lasted 75 milliseconds each, and were conducted in opposing pairs to minimize attitude changes during the test. Thrust for the crew module propulsion system is generated from 12 monopropellant MR-104G engines. These engines are a variant of MR-104 thrusters, which have been used in other NASA spacecraft, including the interplanetary Voyagers 1 and 2.

Approximately 12,100 pounds of propellant have been used, which is 240 pounds less than estimated prelaunch, and leaves a margin of 2,230 pounds over what is planned for use, 324 pounds more than prelaunch expectations.

On its way back to Earth, Orion will pass through a period of intense radiation as it travels through the Van Allen Belts that contain space radiation trapped around Earth by the planet's magnetosphere. Outside the protection of Earth's magnetic field, the deep space radiation environment includes energetic particles produced by the Sun during solar flares as well as particles from cosmic rays that come from outside the galaxy.

Orion was designed from the start to ensure reliability of essential spacecraft systems during potential radiation events and can become a makeshift storm shelter when crew members use shielding materials to form a barrier against solar energetic particles.

For the uncrewed Artemis I mission, Orion is carrying several instruments and experiments to better understand the environment future crews will experience and provide valuable information for engineers developing additional protective measures. There are active sensors connected to power that can send readings to Earth during the flight, as well as passive detectors that require no power source to collect radiation dose information that will be analyzed after the flight.

Commander Moonikin Campos is equipped with two radiation sensors, as well as a sensor under the headrest and another behind the seat to record acceleration and vibration throughout the mission. The seat is positioned in a recumbent, or laid-back, position with elevated feet, which will help maintain blood flow to the head for crew members on future missions during ascent and entry. The position also reduces the chance of injury by allowing the head and feet to be held securely during launch and landing, and by distributing forces across the entire torso during high acceleration and deceleration periods, such as splashdown.

A crew is expected to experience two-and-a-half times the force of gravity during ascent and four times the force of gravity at two different points during the planned reentry profile. Engineers will compare Artemis I flight data with previous ground-based vibration tests with the same manikin, and human subjects, to correlate performance prior to Artemis II.

In addition to the sensors on the manikin and seat, Campos is wearing a first-generation Orion Crew Survival System pressure suit – a spacesuit astronauts will wear during launch, entry, and other dynamic phases of their missions. Even though it's primarily designed for launch and reentry, the Orion suit can keep astronauts alive if Orion were to lose cabin pressure during the journey out to the Moon, while adjusting orbits in Gateway, or on the way back home. Astronauts could survive inside the suit for up to six days as they make their way back to Earth. The outer cover layer is orange to make crew members easily visible in the ocean should they ever need to exit Orion without the assistance of recovery personnel, and the suit is equipped with several features for fit and function.

Shortly before 3:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 9, Orion was traveling 171,500 miles from Earth and 214,200 miles from the Moon, cruising at 2,100 mph.

posted 12-10-2022 08:24 PM               

Orion in the Home Stretch

The Orion spacecraft was on its last full day in space on Saturday (Dec. 10), with its splashdown off the Baja Coast near Guadalupe Island targeted for 11:39 a.m. EST (1639 GMT) on Sunday. 

Engineers conducted the final Artemis I in-space developmental flight test objective to characterize temperature impacts on solar array wings from plumes, or exhaust gases. Once the solar array wing was in the correct test position, flight controllers fired the reaction control system thrusters using opposing thrusters simultaneously to balance the torque and test a variety of firing patterns. Engineers will perform several additional flight test objectives after Orion splashes down in the water and before powering down the spacecraft. 

The fifth return trajectory correction burn occurred at 3:32 p.m. EST (2032 GMT) on Saturday. During the burn the auxiliary engines fired for 8 seconds, accelerating the spacecraft by 3.4 mph (5 feet per second) to ensure Orion was on course for splashdown. The sixth and final trajectory correction burn will take place about five hours before Orion enters Earth's atmosphere. 

On Orion's return to Earth, NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) will facilitate communications for the final return trajectory correction burn, spacecraft separation, re-entry through the Earth's atmosphere and splashdown.

Shortly before the service module separates from the crew module, communication will be switched from NASA's Deep Space Network to its Near Space Network for the remainder of the mission. Located in geosynchronous orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth, TDRS are used to relay data from spacecraft at lower altitudes to ground antennas. During re-entry, the intense heat generated as Orion encounters the atmosphere turns the air surrounding the capsule into plasma and briefly disrupts communication with the spacecraft.  

Recovery forces have arrived on location off the coast of Baja where they will stand by to greet the spacecraft after its re-entry back into the atmosphere at 25,000 mph. On the ship, personnel are running through preparations and simulations to ensure the interagency landing and recovery team, led by Exploration Ground Systems from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is ready to support recovery operations.

The team consists of personnel and assets from the U.S. Department of Defense, including Navy amphibious specialists and Space Force weather specialists, and engineers and technicians from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations.  

Teams will recover Orion and attempt to recover hardware jettisoned during landing, including the forward bay cover and three main parachutes. A four-person team of engineers from Johnson will be aboard the U.S. Navy recovery ship using "Sasquatch" software to identify the footprint of hardware released from the capsule. The primary objective for the Sasquatch team is to help the ship get as close as possible to Orion for a quick recovery. A secondary objective is to recover as many additional elements as possible for analysis later. 

Just after 3 p.m. EST Dec. 10, Orion was 113,453 miles from Earth and 239,432 miles from the Moon, cruising at 3,375 miles per hour.

posted 12-11-2022 11:57 AM               

NASA's Artemis I Orion capsule splashes down after 25-day moon mission

A NASA spacecraft has landed from the moon for the time since the Apollo missions 50 years ago.

The uncrewed Orion capsule descended to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guadalupe Island, west of the Baja California Peninsula, on Sunday (Dec. 11). The 11:40 a.m. EST (1740 GMT) landing marked the end of the nearly month-long Artemis I mission, a test flight that was aimed at proving that the Orion is ready to fly with astronauts.

posted 12-15-2022 12:28 PM               

Orion Offloaded from USS Portland

Team members with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems program successfully removed the Artemis I Orion spacecraft from the USS Portland on Wednesday (Dec. 14), after the ship arrived at U.S. Naval Base San Diego a day earlier.

Engineers will conduct inspections around the spacecraft's windows before installing hard covers and deflating the five airbags on the crew module uprighting system in preparation for the final leg of Orion's journey over land. It will be loaded on a truck and transported back to the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for post-flight analysis.

Before its departure, teams will open Orion's hatch as part of preparations for the trip to Kennedy and remove the Biology Experiment-1 payload which flew onboard Orion. The experiment involves using plant seeds, fungi, yeast, and algae to study the effects of space radiation before sending humans to the Moon and, eventually, to Mars. Removing the payload prior to Orion's return to Kennedy allows scientists to begin their analysis before the samples begin to degrade.

Once it arrives to Kennedy, Orion will be delivered to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility where additional payloads will be taken out, its heat shield and other elements will be removed for analysis, and remaining hazards will be offloaded.

posted 12-30-2022 04:05 PM               

Orion returns to Kennedy Space Center

After its 1.4-million-mile mission beyond the moon and back, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived back at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Dec. 30. The capsule was transported by truck across the country from Naval Base San Diego in California to Kennedy's Multi Payload Processing Facility in Florida.

Now that Orion is back at Kennedy, technicians will remove payloads from the capsule as part of de-servicing operations, including Commander Moonikin Campos, zero-gravity indicator Snoopy and the official flight kit. Orion's heat shield and other elements will be removed for extensive analysis and remaining hazards will be offloaded.

posted 01-10-2023 11:04 AM               

Heat Shield Inspections Underway on Artemis I Orion Spacecraft

Inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians conduct inspections of the heat shield on the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission. Orion returned to Kennedy on Dec. 30, 2022, after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, following a 1.4-million-mile mission beyond the Moon and back.

In this photo, technicians underneath the crew module closely examine the heat shield, which endured temperatures near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry through Earth's atmosphere. The heat shield will be removed from the spacecraft and taken to another facility for further detailed inspections.

Teams also are inspecting the windows of the capsule along with the thermal protection on the back shell panels that cover the spacecraft to protect it from the harsh conditions both in space and during the high-speed, high-heat reentry.

On top of the capsule is the deflated crew module uprighting system, which is a group of five air bags that position the capsule right side up after splashdown and were deflated prior to transport back to Kennedy. While still in the transfer aisle of the facility, engineers are in the process of removing external avionics boxes. Technicians will take air samples within the capsule ahead of repositioning it into a service stand that will allow access to the interior. Upon opening the hatch, technicians will remove the internal avionics boxes and payloads. After conducting detailed inspections and testing, the avionics boxes will be reused for the Artemis II mission.

De-servicing will continue in the coming months with the removal of the hazardous commodities that remain on board. Once complete, the spacecraft will journey to NASA Glenn's Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility for abort-level acoustic vibration and other environmental testing.

posted 01-05-2024 05:43 PM               

NASA's Artemis I Spacecraft Prepped to Depart to Ohio Facility

From Florida to the Moon and back, NASA's Orion spacecraft is still making moves. The crew module that flew more than 1.4 million miles during the agency's historic Artemis I mission is getting ready for its next destination – NASA's Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio.

Technicians inside NASA's Multi-Payload Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, used a crane to lift the Artemis I spacecraft – now called an environmental test article – into the crew module transportation fixture in preparation for its departure. Engineers will use it in qualification tests to better understand how Orion would perform in the event of a launch or inflight abort.

After splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission returned to Kennedy in December 2022. Components scheduled for reuse on Artemis II were removed and the crew module was reconfigured to serve as a test article. With crew module function tests now complete, the test article has been prepared for transport with the installation of the aft, mid bay back shell, and the side hatch in final closure.