[ad_1]
There Artemis I mission is continuing and the second was completed today flyby of the moon by the Orion capsule. The splashdown in the Pacific Ocean is scheduled for December 11 off the coast of California and the spacecraft is currently proceeding with the maneuvers to be able to return correctly to our planet. A historic moment as it had been decades since a capsule certified for the transport of a human crew had not carried out a mission with this profile.
In the past few days Orion has achieved the maximum distance for a module validated for human transport and return to Earth exceeding what was done during the Apollo 13 mission. Previously, new videos and high-resolution images were also shown, allowing you to get an idea of what they will see the astronauts of Artemis II mission which is expected to launch in 2024 (but won’t land). The first humans to set foot on the Moon after the Apollo missions will be those of the third mission, scheduled not before 2025 but which could slip to 2026 or even 2028, according to some rumors. Here are the latest news.
The Artemis I mission continues: new images and videos from the Orion capsule
At 17:43 on December 4, the second orbital correction maneuver was successfully performed by the Orion capsule using the auxiliary thrusters increasing the speed of the spacecraft by 1.9 km/h. There NASA also reported a problem with what is called power conditioning distribution unit (PCDU) and which connects the propulsion system and the temperature regulation system. The engineers stated that the hardware is still in good condition and there has been no power outage to critical systems. However, an analysis is being carried out to understand what the origin was and to prevent it from happening in the future.
Despite this problem, the capsule of the Artemis I mission was able to proceed as expected flyby of the moon in today’s day. There spacecraft has passed to less than 130km from the surface of our natural satellite for less than 4 minutes at about 1054 km/h. This maneuver will allow you to take advantage of the gravity of the moon to bring Orion in the direction of Earth for its re-entry (the European Service Module will burn up in the atmosphere and will not be recovered).
During the live broadcast of NASA it was possible to see live images of the capsule approaching the surface of the moon with the Earth in the background. The agency is expected to make available new high-resolution videos and images taken by on-board cameras (for example, those placed on solar panels) in the future. To be able to download them you can go to NASA Johnson’s Flickr account where it is dedicated album or on the NASA website at images section (which also includes videos).
Philippe Deloo (mission manager in ESA) he declared “Orion and the European Service Module have exceeded expectations from the outset. The four solar arrays produced 15% more energy while we consume less electricity due to the spacecraft’s lower than expected temperature fluctuations”. Deloo then went on to say “there are a few minor issues that are common for a first test flight and Orion is designed to the highest human grade specifications with failsafe and backup. Thanks to the engineering and hard work of the flight control teams at the NASA’s Johnson Space Center and ESA’s mission evaluation room at ESTEC, the Netherlands, the Artemis I mission has been a smooth operation so far.”.
.
[ad_2]
Source link
