The Artemis I uncrewed test flight, which started with the launch of the SLS rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 16, was completed when the Orion spacecraft returned to Earth. As part of the Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean off the Mexican state of Lower California (Baja California) at 09:40 a.m. local time, after approaching 1.4 million miles around the Moon.
“APOLLO 13 EXCEEDED THE DISTANCE RECORD”
In the statement, which stated that NASA tested Orion in the ‘harsh environment’ of deep space for 25.5 days, the statement said, “During the flight test, Orion stayed in space longer than any spacecraft designed for astronauts remained undocked to a space station. “Orion, while in distant lunar orbit, surpassed the previous record for distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to transport humans, reached during Apollo 13.” During the mission, it was stated that Orion made 2 lunar flights, which came within 80 miles of the Moon’s surface, and that at its furthest distance, the International Space Station (ISS) went a thousand times farther than where the International Space Station (ISS) rotates in Earth orbit.
In the coming days, Orion will be brought back to Kennedy Space Center, where the crews will open the lid and load various payloads including Commander Moonikin Campos (mannequin equipped with sensors), space biology experiments (4 space biology studies), Snoopy (zero gravity indicator) and official flight kit. they were told to evacuate. Next, the capsule and heat shield will undergo several months of testing and analysis.
Named after Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo, known as the Moon goddess in Greek mythology, NASA’s Artemis missions aim for a woman and a non-white person to go to the Moon for the first time. The missions are also expected to pave the way for a long-term presence on the Moon and be a ‘stepping stone’ for astronauts to Mars. (DHA)