Artemis I mission: picture-book landing in the Pacific
With the Artemis mission, NASA wants to bring people to the moon again. Now, after almost 26 days in space, the first test flight has come to a successful end with the landing of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean.
It is 50 years to the day since the last time a US lunar module reached the surface of the moon. To mark the anniversary, the Artemis I mission came to an end with the picture-book landing of the Orion capsule in the Pacific off the Mexican coast. Orion had been in space for just under 26 days since its launch on 16 November, orbiting the moon twice and flying further than any other spacecraft built to carry humans. It was a "historic day", the head of the US space agency, Bill Nelson, proudly declared in the livestream. This is because the test mission is seen as an important step towards returning humans to the moon, with the long-term goal of travelling to Mars.
On the spectacular live images on NASA TV, Orion could first be seen moving towards Earth at breakneck speed. In the meantime, the capsule reached a speed of a good 40 000 kilometres per hour and was exposed to a temperature of 5000 degrees Celsius. Within 20 minutes, Orion slowed down to just under 30 kilometres per hour, braked by parachutes, and then touched down somewhat gently in the sea.
German astronaut Alexander Gerst hailed the successful landing on Twitter: "A historic moment and milestone in space travel. Humanity once again has a spacecraft that can carry people beyond Earth orbit into space to explore the Moon and Mars," he wrote. And Philippe Deloo, programme manager in charge of the European mission contribution, said on NASA TV: "I'm the happiest person in the world right now because the European service module has worked so well."
The ESM is a mission-critical component that is mainly developed and assembled in Bremen. It is the Orion capsule's kitchen, bathroom, pantry and power centre all in one. It contains the main engine and supplies electricity via four solar sails. It also regulates the climate and temperature in the spacecraft and stores fuel, oxygen and water supplies for the crew. In the interview with Spektrum.de, the head of the German space agency, Walther Pelzer, had said shortly after the launch: "The fact that the USA is relying on us in the Artemis programme is an enormous vote of confidence in the capabilities of the European space nations." Shortly before entering the Earth's atmosphere, the ESM had given the Orion capsule a final push to bring it on course before it undocked and burned up in the atmosphere.
In the coming days, Orion will return to land, where engineering teams will unload the spacecraft and truck it back to Kennedy Space Center. Once there, teams will open the hatch and unload the precious cargo, including Commander Moonikin Campos, the space biology experiments, Snoopy and the official flight equipment. Afterwards, the capsule and its heat shield will be tested and analysed over several months.
Now the goal is to learn from more lunar missions to explore the cosmos, NASA chief Nelson said. By the end of the 2030s, they want to take humans to Mars - "and then even further out". Unlike when the US went it alone 50 years ago, this is now also a "great day" for NASA's international partners, Nelson stressed. The European Space Agency (ESA) and space agencies of several other countries, including Germany, are involved in "Artemis".
Spectrum of Science
We are a partner of Spektrum der Wissenschaft and want to make sound information more accessible to you. Follow Spektrum der Wissenschaft if you like the articles .
Originalartikel auf Spektrum.deTitelbild: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Experts from science and research report on the latest findings in their fields – competent, authentic and comprehensible.