Whether Orion safely returns via a splash landing and retrieval in the Pacific Ocean will be the ultimate test to determine its success. The spacecraft’s large, technologically advanced heat shield is designed to protect it throughout that journey. The re-entry will be faster and hotter than any spacecraft that’s come before it, Nelson said, noting that Orion will hit the planet’s atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound. One of the mission’s key objectives is demonstrating Orion’s ability to return to Earth at the end of its mission. 29, which was ultimately scrubbed due to engine problems. Watch NASA’s first attempted launch of Artemis 1 on Aug.
The pair will blast off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida before Orion eventually detaches from the rocket to begin its solo journey toward the moon, traveling further than any prior spacecraft designed for humans, Nelson said. The 32-story rocket is the most powerful ever built, Nelson said. Orion will reach lunar orbit thanks to NASA’s Space Launch System, or SLS. Here’s what else you need to know about the mission. “It’s a future where NASA will land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon and, on these increasingly complex missions, astronauts will live and work in deep space, and will develop the science and technology to send the first humans to Mars,” Nelson said.Īrtemis 1 offers researchers the opportunity to complete a test run of the capabilities of the new spacecraft, Orion, while also using technology to gauge the physiological impacts of deep space travel on future astronauts. In addition to inaugurating a new era of lunar missions, researchers involved with the Artemis program have an eye on future exploration that involves humans traveling further into the unforgiving, high-radiation terrain of space than ever before, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said during an Aug. Named for the Greek goddess of the moon, Artemis is a descendent of Apollo, the NASA program that successfully took astronauts to the moon for the first time in 1969. READ MORE: Fuel leak disrupts NASA’s 2nd attempt at Artemis launch The uncrewed test flight was delayed until later this fall after two launches were scrubbed within a week of each other due to various technical issues.īut when – and if – Artemis 1 does successfully take off, the mission will send Orion - a novel spacecraft designed to safely transport astronauts on deep-space missions - on a weekslong journey around the moon and back to Earth. Humans will be one step closer to making a giant leap back to the moon with the launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 mission.
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