Artemis I has reached the middle of her journey in outer space

Abigail Brewer 2 years ago 3 min read

Since its launch from Earth, the Orion spacecraft has traveled a million distances through outer space 268 One thousand 563 miles (ie two Millions 41 one thousand 554 how much.Around). It is currently on its 13th day and is about halfway through its journey.

Since then, the Orion capsule has taken pictures of the Earth and the Moon. entered a retrograde motion (a movement in the opposite direction that allows you to return to the ground); Even on his eighth day, he lost contact for 47 minutes with Depp space Network (the international network of antennas supporting interplanetary missions for spacecraft).

The Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled for a 25.5-day flight, is still in good condition, and at the same time continues its journey in a distant retrograde orbit. It is a stretch of nearly six days thousands of miles from the Moon.

Engineers had planned to fire an additional thrust system while passing this motion, but decided it was not necessary due to Orion’s precise trajectory in a distant retrograde orbit.

In fact, the scientists considered adding seven additional tests on the spacecraft’s thermal environment and propulsion system. With this they will minimize risks before flying on future missions with the crew.

So far, flight controllers have managed to complete 37.5 percent of the mission objectives, but there are just a few left to be evaluated during Orion’s entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery.

Meanwhile, the NASA Earth Systems team and the US Government Navy have begun operations to recover Orion when it is in the Pacific Sea. The team will deploy on Tuesday for naval training and make final preparations before launch.

The Orion capsule also carries the spacecraft’s star trackers, and this device has been found to work as expected.

The flight controllers also completed 9 of 19 non-transformed burns.numberThree types of Orion engines are exercised: the main engine, the auxiliary thrusters, and the reaction control system thrusters.

In fact, the craft used about 5,640 lbs. (2558261 kilograms of propellant, which is about 150 lb (68 kg) less than expected before launch.

Thus, more than two thousand pounds remain available (907kilograms) of margin beyond what the teams planned to use for the task. This is an increase of more than 120 pounds (54 kilograms) in relation to the expected pre-launch values. To date, teams have already sent mas of 2,000 files from the spacecraft back to Earth.

Just before 8 p.m. EST, the Orion spacecraft was at a distance of 268,457 miles (432And the 039 how much.(of land and 43 thousand 138 miles)69And the 423 how much.) from the Moon, traveling at 1,679 miles (2702 how much.) per hour.

For people who want to watch the mission in real time, they can follow Orion during its mission around the Moon and back via the NASA TV calendar. Latest photos and videos can be found on Johnson Space Center Flickr.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/