NASA’s Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft Prepares For Its Blazing Homecoming Soon

In a nearly perfect test of a new spacecraft over the past three weeks, NASA's Orion capsule has traveled most of the way back to the moon. As part of the Artemis I mission, it is currently facing its toughest test: surviving a catastrophic reentry through Earth's atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11. It will test a reentry maneuver that has never been employed by a passenger spacecraft throughout the procedure.

There are no astronauts aboard the spacecraft. But it should eventually. For its Artemis mission, which hopes to send people someday back to the moon's surface, Nature said NASA needs to return Orion to Earth safely.

(Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Artemis I unmanned lunar rocket lifts off from launch pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 16, 2022. - NASA's Artemis 1 mission is a 25-and-a-half-day voyage beyond the far side of the Moon and back. The meticulously choreographed, uncrewed flight should yield spectacular images and valuable scientific data.

NASA Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft's Homecoming

Reports mentioned that NASA's Artemis 1 Orion, the service module, is anticipated to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere during reentry. NASA has carefully controlled the Artemis 1 fall to eliminate any risk to people, property, or shipping channels from the spacecraft's remaining parts.

Orion's crew module will employ a "skip entry" maneuver, a first for a manned spacecraft, to precisely splash down at the landing site after separating from the service module. Orion will first plunge into the upper atmosphere to achieve this, using the gas there and the lift from the capsule to "skip" out of the atmosphere. Before making its last parachute-assisted plummet, it will rejoin the atmosphere.

NASA asserts that this technology will permit a safe descent regardless of when and where the next Artemis missions return from the moon.

The spaceship will decelerate to around 523 kilometers per hour upon reentry due to our planet's atmosphere. At the height of around 8 kilometers, three mini parachutes will commence the parachute deployment procedure by lifting the covers of the front bays. After the cover splits, two drogue parachutes will be released. These will slow down and stabilize the crew module.

At the height of around 2,800 meters, the spacecraft should descend at a rate of about 210 km/h. The main parachutes will now rise and expand thanks to three pilot parachutes. These 35-meter nylon parachutes will reduce Orion to a speed of around 32 kilometers per hour for splashdown.

ALSO READ: NASA's Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft Calls Home From Deep Space Before Heading Back to Earth [Listen]

Orion Conducts Successful Engine Burn

Earlier this week, Fox News said NASA's Artemis 1 Orion capsule's orbital maneuver engine burned for 3 minutes and 27 seconds, successfully completing the return-powered flyby (RPF) burn and placing Orion on the right course for a Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after 25.5 days in space.

About 20 minutes before the scheduled milestone, managers at Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston unanimously voted "Go" to start the burn.

Orion's closest approach to the moon's surface on its final flyby was around 80 miles, and according to NASA officials, the spacecraft passed over a few of the Apollo landing sites.

Orion was on the moon's far side when NASA lost contact with it for roughly 30 minutes before the flyby.

Orion's view of the lunar craters and features and its destination Earth was spectacular when the signal was re-established through the Deep Space Network. When this view is next accessible, it will be during Artemis II, when NASA astronauts have just finished a similar lunar orbit.

To go back to Earth, Orion must complete a sequence of engine burns. The first took place last week when the spacecraft was prepared for its return journey by burning for 45 seconds in a distant retrograde orbit (DRO).