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It was November 16, 2022 when the Artemis I mission departed from the Kennedy Space Center by harnessing the mighty NASA SLS space rocket (Space Launch System) and, on top, the Orion capsule and the European Service Module. After years of delays finally the new program that will bring the human being back on moon it is finally at the beginning of the operational phase despite the fact that there is no human crew on board.
It must be considered that with new generation hardware, unmanned flight tests are necessary to ensure that nothing can go wrong when the second and third (and subsequent) missions have astronauts on board. A previous unmanned test, with a ULA Delta IV Heavy vector, was carried out in 2014. The distances reached were however much lower, as was the time spent in orbit. Only a long-lasting mission, in this case almost 26 days, and in lunar orbit could guarantee reliable data collection for definitive validation.
No space agency, in modern times, would risk so much even if the problems can obviously still arise (after all we are talking about going into space). We observed the same operations, for example, with the validation of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsules with the Demo-1 test or with the Boeing Starliner OFT (both solutions for low Earth orbit). The return of Orion spacecraftwhich occurred a little while ago, marks a crucial point for the program even if we will have to wait for all the data analysis to understand if everything went as planned.
Artemis I: Orion capsule returned to Earth
As previously announced, the Orion capsule of the Artemis I mission ditched in the Pacific Ocean off California. It was decided to adopt a different reentry profile compared to other lunar missions of the past. In fact, the spacecraft first separated from the European service module (with the latter having burned up in the atmosphere) while the speed was around 40,000 km/h.
Orion instead he had to orient himself correctly with his engines to allow him to have it heat shield in the front area so as to protect the least resistant part (and a hypothetical crew). It was decided to make a re-entry with a first contact of the lower atmosphere by directing the capsule back towards Space and then redirecting it again towards the lower atmosphere for ditching. This allows for a slowdown “sweeter” for the crew while also reducing the stress on the hardware. Procedure which should therefore be safer than those used in the past (for example with Apollo).
Around 18:20 (Italian time) there was the first period “black out” of communications due to the plasma surrounding the capsule (at an altitude of about 80 km). The signal was then reacquired around 18:26 with the apogee of the skip maneuver reached about two minutes later. The second one “black out” of communications occurred about five minutes later when the capsule began its final return to the surface. Meanwhile, the US Navy ship USS Portland had begun preparations for recovering the capsule from the ocean while support aircraft in the area proceeded to visually survey the reentry.
At 18:36 the two parachutes were released drug to slow down the descent of the capsule while at 18:37 the three main parachutes were released which brought the speed from just over 200 km/h to about 30 km/h for ditching (so that the crew could have the least discomfort possible). The ditching took place at 18:40 Italian time on 11 December 2022 with a return that did not show any particular problems. After the impact with the water, the upper balloons inflated to allow for further stability and buoyancy of the capsule itself. Subsequently, a team of divers hooked a cable to the Orion spacecraft so as to allow it to be towed inside the support vessel.
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