The Orion spacecraft flew by its closest point of impact in the Orion orbit. The MoonOn Monday 21 November, the lunar surface was 81 statute miles (130 km) away.
Orion’s orbital maneuvering engine engine fired for 2 minutes, 30 seconds as the Artemis 1 mission’s uncrewed spacecraft passed the far side the Moon. This was to place the capsule in the correct orbit, known as a distant retrograde orbit about the Moon.
“This burn is setting Orion up for orbit the Moon and is the largest propulsive incident so far as Artemis Hunts the Moon,” stated Mike Sarafin (Artemis Mission Manager), at a briefing Monday.
The first maneuver required to enter the so called distant retrograde orbit about the Moon is the engine burn. It’s also known as an “outbound powered flyby” burn.
Next burn will be Friday 25 November using the engines of the European Service Module. Orion will stay in orbit for approximately a week to test the spacecraft systems.
Orion will travel 40,000 miles beyond the Moon in the distant retrograde. Orion’s closest distance to the Earth will be Monday 28th November at 3:05 PM CST (0905 UTC), at over 268,500 miles.
Orion will reach the Moon at a distance of more than 57.250 miles on Friday 25th November at 3:53 PM CST (2153 UTC). This is the furthest human-rated spacecraft has ever flown beyond the Moon.
This is a great illustration of Orion’s orbit during the mission.
I have never understood orbital mechanics.
Orion had a wonderful trip home.
(Great share @thePrimalSpace) pic.twitter.com/nZmvx2hLrF
— Chris Combs (@DrChrisCombs) November 22, 2022
Sarafin stated that mission teams have had the chance to examine the performance and ground systems of the SLS rocket, spacecraft, and ground systems for Artemis I.
He stated that the results were “eyewatering” and everything had met or exceeded his expectations.
Sarafin stated, “We haven’t seen any thing on the rocket/spacecraft that would cause our to question any part of the mission.”
This is a largely greenlight flight. The vehicle systems are very clean, but we are working a few ‘funnies’ – nothing that puts any constraints on the mission, just that some things were operating differently than expected. Overall, the mission is proceeding as planned.
The spacecraft’s cameras captured stunning images of the Moon and Earth during the flyby.
Earthset. 🌎@NASA_OrionThis image of Earth “setting”, as the spacecraft was passing close to the Moon, was captured by the camera. Nearly 270,000 miles (430,000km) away #ArtemisI will soon exceed Apollo 13’s record distance to Earth in a spacecraft that was designed for carrying astronauts. pic.twitter.com/lvDS7nGPRo
— NASA (@NASA) November 21, 2022
Sandra Jones, Mission Control commentator for NASA TV said: “An Earthrise by our pale blue spot and its 8 million human inhabitants now coming into sight,” NASA TV footage received from Orion was shown.
Judd Frieling is the Ascent and Entry Flight Director of Artemis 1. He stated that they didn’t anticipate to receive live-stream video as we did. However, it was part of the testing process. We were trying to see if we could push the bandwidth limits. When we have bandwidth, the livestream will be broadcast from the mission.
The Artemis 1 flight was launched on November 16,This is the first time in 50 years that a human-capable spacecraft has been sent to the Moon. NASA hopes to use Orion, SLS, and other yet-to-be-built hardware, such as a Moon lander built by SpaceX – to send astronauts back to the lunar surface.
The first moon landing could be launched as early as 2025. Artemis 1 is currently testing much of the technology required for future flights.
Frieling stated that Orion would fly past the Moon on December 5, and that the lighting conditions should be sufficient for Orion’s cameras to capture images of Apollo landing sites.
Although it is an exciting prospect, you shouldn’t expect to be able to see the hardware that was left behind. Orion won’t be as close as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – It has already taken high resolution views of Apollo sites – nor are Orion’s cameras as good as LRO’s.
Orion will return to Earth approximately 25 days after launch. Currently, splashdown of Orion has been scheduled for December 11.
Engineers have assessed Orion’s exterior using the cameras from the European Service Module solar arrays. They have found it in excellent condition. Orion is now ready for re-entry.
Sarafin announced that, on December 5, teams will meet in order to determine where and when to deploy the recovery force. This joint effort is between NASA and the US Navy.
The Pacific Ocean will be the recovery zone. However, the landing location will be determined based on a host of factors including weather conditions.
This article was first published by Universe Today. Please read the Original article.
