The Orion capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean after a 25-day unmanned mission around the natural satellite. The collected data will be used for future manned journeys to the Moon and Mars. NASA’s Orion capsule successfully landed this Sunday (12/11) in the Pacific Ocean, after completing its journey around the Moon. The disembarkation (landing at sea) took place at 14:40 Brasilia time, near the island of Guadalupe, in the peninsula of Baja California, Mexico.
After 25 days, the capsule’s return to Earth concludes the first unmanned mission of the Artemis program, which intends to return humans to the Moon – something that hasn’t happened since 1972, with the Apollo 17 mission. Continue, then take astronauts to Mars.
Orion passed about 127 kilometers from the Moon and reached a distance of almost 435,000 kilometers from the Earth. Since take-off on November 16, the capsule has traveled 2.25 million kilometres.
essential data
The successful arrival of Orion on Earth has been closely watched by scientists as it is the first test of the largest heat shield ever built. It measures 5 meters in diameter and consists of a titanium lattice covered with a carbon fiber film and an ablative (heat-absorbing) material.
The capsule had to endure a temperature of 2,700 degrees Celsius as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, at a speed of 40,000 kilometers per hour.
“It’s critical safety equipment. It’s designed to protect the spacecraft and the passengers, the astronauts on board. So the heat shield has to work,” explained Artemis mission manager Mike Sarafin.
Now, NASA will be able to gather information from the spacecraft that is essential for future missions, including manned ones. One of the data is whether the thermal insulation has managed to preserve the interior of the capsule, where three mannequins (one full body and two identical backs) with temperature, pressure and radiation monitoring sensors have been installed, among other.
The US Navy and a Kennedy Space Center rescue team will work together to recover the capsule. Divers will attach a cable to the vessel, which will be pulled into a space on the deck of a Navy vessel. The crews will recover the protective cover and the three main parachutes.
The Artemis Project
Considered the first test for the return of manned missions to the Moon, the Artemis 1 mission is organized by NASA in collaboration with 21 countries, including Brazil. The launch took place at Cape Canaveral, Florida on November 16, after two failed attempts.
On November 21, the mission approached the Moon and entered the satellite’s retrograde orbit on November 25. Six days later, on December 1, it broke away from the Moon’s orbit and began its return to Earth.
The unmanned trip is part of a series of tests in orbit around the Moon, both in relation to the equipment and the Orion capsule, which is expected to carry up to four astronauts in the second phase of the mission.
The mission aims to build a permanent and sustainable lunar base and make the moon a foothold for travel to Mars.
The crew of the next mission, scheduled for 2024, will travel close to the Moon but will not land.
A spacecraft is expected to land at the moon’s south pole, where there is water ice, during Artemis 3, scheduled for 2026.
le (Reuters, AFP, Agência Brasil)
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Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
