Where is Artemis 1 going?

As part of the Artemis program, Artemis 1 was the first of a series of missions designed to send humans to the moon.

At 01:47 a.m. EST (06:47 GMT) on November 16, NASA successfully launched Artemis 1 from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With this image gallery, take a look at the stunning views of the moon rocket’s launch.

NASA’s Space Send off Framework (SLS) rocket took an uncrewed profound space investigation framework — the Orion shuttle — around the moon and back again with an end goal to test the Orion module, SLS rocket as well as ground frameworks at the Kennedy Space Center, establishing the groundworks for ensuing missions inside the Artemis program.

At 12:40 p.m. EST on December 11, the Orion capsule crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. bringing the historic Artemis 1 moon mission of NASA to a successful conclusion after a massive 1.4 million mile (2.3 million km) flight.

In 1972, astronaut Eugene Cernan of Apollo 17 left the final footprints on the moon. In the 50 years since, a lot has changed.

The first scientific hand-held calculator was released in that year; Today, we carry more computing power in our pockets than the Apollo astronauts used to safely return to the moon.

Humanity is finally about to return to low Earth orbit (LEO). That feat has only been accomplished by two dozen astronauts, all of whom are white men. The lauded list of moonwalkers will soon include the first astronaut of color and the first female astronaut. The Artemis program, which is NASA’s plan to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, is to blame for everything.

A half-century of technological advancement has resulted in improvements to grainy black-and-white video footage that will allow us to see astronauts walk in the lunar dust once more by 2025. This time, the detail of the footage will be much better than it was before. A whole new generation might be inspired to think big and see themselves as future space travelers.

However, in order to achieve this subsequent moonshot, a brand-new launch system and some practice are required.

The massive SLS rocket from NASA made its public debut with the uncrewed Artemis 1.

The Orion spacecraft was carried around the moon for approximately four weeks by the brand-new megarocket. The Artemis 2 mission, which will send astronauts around the moon and back in 2024, will follow if everything goes according to plan.

Artemis 3 will put space travelers down on the moon, close to the lunar south pole, with the guide of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. This milestone mission is focused on for 2025 or 2026.

Orion was launched into orbit on November 16, 2022, by two massive solid rocket boosters and a core stage containing 733,000 gallons (2.8 million liters) of propellant. Orion was then launched toward the moon by the firing of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) of the upper stage of the SLS.

Ten tiny cubesats that had stowed away aboard Artemis 1 were launched by the ICPS as soon as it fired. These little space apparatus incorporate BioSentinel, a mission that conveyed yeast tests past Low Earth Circle (LEO). The goal is to learn about radiation levels and how they affect living things. This will help us keep astronauts safe on future Artemis missions.

After detachment from the ICPS, Orion was impelled and controlled by the European Assistance Module, worked by the European Space Office (ESA). ” “Water and oxygen, among other consumables, will be provided by the Service Module for future crew,” Phillippe Berthe, ESA’s project coordination manager for the module, stated.

A total of 25.5 days and 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers) were spent away from Artemis 1. Orion entered a so-called “distant retrograde orbit” when it reached the moon on flight day 6 and swooped down to just 80 miles (130 kilometers) above the lunar surface using the gravitational kick it received.

It travelled around the moon in the opposite direction to how it rotates when it was retrograde. Six days passed while Orion was in orbit. The Orion capsule then entered lunar orbit on December 1 and began its return journey to Earth. At 12:40 p.m. EST on Sunday, December 11, it made a safe landing off the coast of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

Therefore, how does the brand-new Orion service module stack up against the lunar modules that were used to send Apollo astronauts to the moon? The propulsion is virtually identical; “It is very similar to the Apollo era,” Berthe stated. However, other advancements have been made over the past half century.

“Processing power is another significant improvement,” said Berthe. Famously, the Apollo astronauts traveled to the moon without the same amount of computing power as an iPhone. The crew would have to do a lot of manual labor as a result. The spacecraft’s powerful computers can now handle most of the heavy lifting this time.

Mannequin Commander Moonikin Campos was sitting in the commander’s seat. He was wearing the Orion Crew Survival System, a radiation-resistant suit. During the flight, the levels of radiation were monitored by two radiation sensors. Arturo Campus, an electrical engineer who helped bring the Apollo 13 mission safely back to Earth, is the inspiration for the name Moonkin Campos.

Due to research conducted by the German space agency DLR, Campos was joined by two simulated female astronauts who occupied additional Orion seats. StemRad, a radiation-shielding vest, was on Zohar, one of the dummies. Helga, the other, left without any cover.