This Sunday, November 11th, will see the return of the Orion spacecraft. Tune into NASA to watch Orion’s re-entry and spashdown. Live splashdown coverage will begin at 11 a.m. EST. The splashdown itself is scheduled for 12:39 p.m. EST. You can watch all of the coverage live on NASA TV, the agency’s website, and the NASA app.
This week’s image of the lunar surface comes from NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it orbited the Moon on December 5th. Orion is now on its way back and is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on December 11th.
Regarding the return of the Orion crew module, NASA stated:
Earth’s atmosphere initially will slow the spacecraft to 325 mph, then the parachutes will slow Orion to a splashdown speed in about 10 minutes as it descends through Earth’s atmosphere. Parachute deployment begins at an altitude of about five miles with three small parachutes pulling the forward bay covers away. Once the forward bay cover separates, two drogue parachutes will slow and stabilize the crew module for main parachute deployment. At an altitude of 9,500 feet and a spacecraft speed of 130 mph, three pilot parachutes will lift and deploy the main parachutes. Those 116-foot-diameter parachutes of nylon broadcloth, or “silk,” will slow the Orion crew module to a splashdown speed of 20 mph or less.
The landing point is in the Pacific Ocean near Guadalupe Island. It should be a strong finish to a successful Artemis mission.
On this day in 1972, the Apollo 17 crew on their way to the Moon took a photograph of the Earth that became known as “The Blue Marble” (shown above). You can see Africa, the Middle East, and Antarctica. It remains one of the most popular images of the Earth.
The Orion spacecraft caught its own image of the Earth earlier in Artemis I mission (shown below). It is more of a black and white marble. We can expect to see many more images of the Earth in the years to come as the Artemis missions continue.
The Artemis I mission is going well. On day six (November 21), the Orion capsule had a successful flyby of the moon and traveled to within 81 miles of the lunar surface. After a slow start to the launch, NASA engineers must be somewhat relieved.
NASA provided an update on the mission yesterday. You can find many more details on the mission in that one hour briefing.
Stay tuned for some space records later this week, as noted by NASA:
Orion will travel about 57,287 miles beyond the Moon at its farthest point from the Moon on Nov. 25, pass the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance traveled by a spacecraft designed for humans at 248,655 miles from Earth on Saturday, Nov. 26, and reach its maximum distance from Earth of 268,552 miles Monday, Nov. 28.
And be sure to stay abreast of the mission via the Artemis blog.
Late last week, the White House announced that Japan plans to support the operations of the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030 as well as further collaborate with the United States on the Artemis Lunar Gateway platform that will orbit the Moon.
On November 17, Vice President Kamala Harris stated:
The United States welcomes Japan’s intention to extend its support of International Space Station (ISS) operations through 2030, following the United States’ announcement of our ISS extension one year ago. In addition, our two countries are taking a step forward by reaching an agreement on collaboration on the Lunar Gateway orbiting platform, which will pave the way for the return of humanity to the Moon.
Under a previous agreement that has been expanded further, Japan’s JAXA has promised a number of contributions to the Lunar Gateway, including:
With the successful start of Artemis I lunar mission, it is good to hear that partner nations are increasing their support for a return to the Moon as well as plans to travel to Mars. While the United States went to the Moon alone last century, the Artemis partnership ensures this century’s return to the Moon is an international project.
