NASA successfully completes its Artemis I mission

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA successfully completes its Artemis I mission
Story by Emma Roth • 17m ago
The Verge


NASA’s Orion spacecraft has returned to Earth. The uncrewed capsule safely splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off of Mexico’s Baja California around 12:40PM ET on Sunday, marking the end of the landmark Artemis I mission.



NASA’s Orion capsule splashed down into the Pacific Ocean at around 12:40PM ET.
© Screenshot: Emma Roth / The Verge


After a 1.4 million-mile journey through space, the capsule splashed down in an upright position without any major hiccups. It reached speeds of about 24,500mph as it returned to Earth, while its heat shield sustained scorching temperatures of around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

As it reentered Earth’s atmosphere, the Orion capsule successfully performed a skip entry maneuver, in which Orion dipped into Earth’s upper atmosphere and lifted out before reentering again. The move is supposed to help the spacecraft land in the designated splashdown location and is a first for a spacecraft designed to carry humans.

Once it reached about 24,000 feet from the ground, the capsule began deploying its parachutes to help it slow down as it descended into the Pacific Ocean. The US Navy started the process of recovering the spacecraft shortly after splashdown, but that will take several hours to complete.

Now that Orion’s back on the ground, NASA will start capturing data from the sensor-equipped mannequins on board so it can get ready for future missions involving humans. NASA hopes to get humans back on the Moon during a second Artemis mission that’s slated for 2024.

After several delays, NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) spacecraft lifted off on November 16th and catapulted the Orion capsule on a 25.5-day mission around the moon. The capsule passed within 81 miles of the lunar surface before blasting 57,000 miles beyond the moon, where it entered a distant orbit for about one week. About halfway through the mission, the spacecraft reached 268,563 miles away from Earth, the furthest any human-rated spacecraft has traveled.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-successfully-completes-its-artemis-i-mission/ar-AA159Fh7?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=1458a6c414514e8d81c67143e923e3eb

[Geo]

I wonder if the life support system was also tested/simulated during the mission. Mannequins don't breathe.
As for the first time a capsule intended for manned use uses this skip entry method, is this only because the entry velocity was higher then usual?
It might prove useful for a manned Mars mission though. Fuel budget would be even stricter on a interplanetary mission.

[Unorthodox]

I wonder if the life support system was also tested/simulated during the mission. Mannequins don't breathe.

"Partial" for life support test, so I'm guessing not the oxygen.

As for the first time a capsule intended for manned use uses this skip entry method, is this only because the entry velocity was higher then usual?
It might prove useful for a manned Mars mission though. Fuel budget would be even stricter on a interplanetary mission.

It's quite stressful on the heat shield to run through the atmosphere twice.  Better materials these days are finally making it feasible on something this large is all. 

[Geo]

I wonder if the life support system was also tested/simulated during the mission. Mannequins don't breathe.

"Partial" for life support test, so I'm guessing not the oxygen.

As for the first time a capsule intended for manned use uses this skip entry method, is this only because the entry velocity was higher then usual?
It might prove useful for a manned Mars mission though. Fuel budget would be even stricter on a interplanetary mission.

It's quite stressful on the heat shield to run through the atmosphere twice.  Better materials these days are finally making it feasible on something this large is all.

Ah thanks.
I can only dream of the day that it would be feasible to have a de-orbit burn before descending in the atmosphere. Should be way less risky.

[Unorthodox]

Ah thanks.
I can only dream of the day that it would be feasible to have a de-orbit burn before descending in the atmosphere. Should be way less risky.

I mean, TECHNICALLY, that's the traditional method.  You slow yourself enough to where you're no longer orbiting.  The problem is gravity is still accelerating you toward the ground.  If you're thinking of more or less coming to a 'stop' and falling 'straight down', it's actually a lot MORE risky as you spend less time in the atmosphere, so less time for air pressure to aid your slowing.  Would take a ton of fuel to do a controlled descent.  Even space X's landings are freefall for most of it, just firing the engine right at the landing strip.

I'm actually genuinely surprised at the return to capsule based vehicles instead of some kind of shuttle 2.0 to be honest.  The whole point was 'wings' (as [poopy] as the shuttle's were) to aid in descent through maximizing time at particular levels of the atmosphere.  I'm guessing that was purely a cost based decision rather than efficiency/safety/utility. 

This was using a trip through the upper atmosphere to perform the de-orbit slowing.  Much more fuel efficient, thus weight efficient, thus more payload to moon.