Mission Artemis I: tomorrow is the big test for the Orion spacecraft

Throughout the Artemis I mission, all eyes are on the SLS mega-rocket. However, the most important is the Orion ship. This first mission of NASA’s new lunar program is above all a test of the American-European spacecraft. If Orion passes this test, then there will be astronauts in the next flight. He is also the one who runs the most risks during the mission.

The existence of the Orion ship is already quite old. We have to go back to 2003 when President George W. Bush wanted to bring the astronauts back to the Moon and throw the Constellation program. Orion will be the taxi to get there. When President Obama stops it, the US Congress keeps a budget envelope to develop the SLS – Space Launch System – and Orion to both replace the space shuttle and serve lunar ambitions. A first test flight (OFT-1) took place in December 2014, in orbit terrestrial, like the Apollo 4 mission. So why redo an unmanned test with Artemis I ?

Save the astronauts from the grill

Artemis I will test Orion in the real conditions of a lunar mission. As specified Thomas Zurbuchenassociate director of the Nasaone of the objectives of the mission is to test the heat shield of Orion. Indeed, the return of the Moon will take place at a very great speed (40,000 km/h!) and enter our atmosphere at several thousand kilometers per hour without protection is a death sentence for the occupants.

The friction will raise the heat to 2,800°C, and disintegrate the ship. The heat shield is essential and it has never been tested in such conditions. So even if the qualification of the SLS is a big bet, it is this phase of the mission that remains the most dangerous.

As other main objectives, it is of course necessary that Orion ensure all the maneuvers during the mission. This is an important test for its service module, provided by the European Space Agency, ESA. Finally, as a last main objective, NASA intends to recover the capsule which should land off California around October 11, once its descent under parachute finished. Recovery is crucial to get flight data. There is also a multitude secondary objectives for Artemis I.