Earth eclipse underway!
Artemis I Flight Day 14: Orion Sees the Earth and MoonNASA ID: Flight Day 14art001m1023322023 (Nov. 29, 2022) In this video taken on flight day 14 of the 25.5 day Artemis I mission, Orion looks back at the Earth and the Moon after surpassing the maximum distance of any other spacecraft built for humans. Orion is continuing to orbit the Moon in a distant retrograde orbit and will splash down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.
We're just over the halfway point of #Artemis I, and what a ride to the Moon it has been. @NASA_Orion is performing so well we're evaluating adding more test objectives to characterize the spacecraft further and reduce risk for future missions. Read more: go.nasa.gov/3GVlfiw
Artemis I — Flight Day 13: Orion Goes the (Max) DistanceNASA’s uncrewed Orion spacecraft reached the farthest distance from Earth it will travel during the Artemis I mission — 268,563 miles from our home planet — just after 3 p.m. CST. The spacecraft also captured imagery of Earth and the Moon together throughout the day, including of the Moon appearing to eclipse Earth. Reaching the halfway point of the mission on Flight Day 13 of a 25.5 day mission, the spacecraft remains in healthy condition as it continues its journey in distant retrograde orbit, an approximately six-day leg of its larger mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon. “Because of the unbelievable can-do spirit, Artemis I has had extraordinary success and has completed a series of history making events,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “It’s incredible just how smoothly this mission has gone, but this is a test. That’s what we do – we test it and we stress it.” Engineers had originally planned an orbital maintenance burn today but determined it was not necessary because of Orion’s already precise trajectory in distant retrograde orbit. Based on Orion’s performance, managers are examining adding seven additional test objectives to further characterize the spacecraft’s thermal environment and propulsion system to reduce risk before flying future missions with crew. To date, flight controllers have accomplished or are in the process of completing 37.5% of the test objectives associated with the mission, with many remaining objectives set to be evaluated during entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery. NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team and the U.S. Navy are beginning initial operations for recovery of Orion when it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. The team will deploy Tuesday for training at sea before return to shore to make final preparations ahead of splashdown. Managers also closed out today a team formed earlier in the mission to investigate readings associated with the spacecraft’s star trackers after determining the hardware is performing as expected and initially suspect readings are a byproduct of the flight environment. Flight controllers also have completed 9 of 19 translational burns and exercised the three types of engines on Orion – the main engine, auxiliary thrusters, and reaction control system thrusters. Approximately 5,640 pounds of propellants have been used, which is about 150 pounds fewer than prelaunch expected values. More than 2,000 pounds of margin remain available beyond what teams plan to use for the mission, an increase of more than 120 pounds from prelaunch expected values. So far, teams have already sent more than 2,000 files from the spacecraft to Earth. Just before 8 p.m. EST, Orion was 268,457 miles from Earth and 43,138 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,679 miles per hour.To follow the mission real-time, you can track Orion during its mission around the Moon and back and watch live imagery from the spacecraft. Check the NASA TV schedule for updates on the next televised events. The latest imagery and videos can be found on the Johnson Space Center Flickr. Author Leah CheshierPosted on November 28, 2022 8:45 pmCategories Artemis 1, Artemis I, Orion, Orion Spacecraft
Super exciting to be a part of this historic mission and for ICPS to do its part as the last leg of boost. @BoeingSpace @NASA @NASAArtemis @NASA_SLS @NASA_Orion
The Lunar IceCube team is continuing its attempts to communicate with the CubeSat so that it can be placed into its science orbit in the coming days. Lunar IceCube carries the Goddard-built BIRCHES spectrometer that aims to study the dynamics of water at the Moon.
Mission Time: 14 days, 2 hrs, 8 minOrion is 259,879 miles from Earth, 48,196 miles from the Moon, cruising at 1,888 miles per hour.P: (217928, -125411, -79936)V: (651, 1593, 777)O: 285º, 120.8º, 154.7ºWhat's this? http://www.nasa.gov/feature/track-nasa-s-artemis-i-mission-in-real-time #TrackArtemis
As it flies around the Moon, a maintenance burn for @NASA_Orion is planned tonight, the last before it leaves lunar orbit.The European Service Module will fire the auxiliary thrusters for 100 seconds at 22:53 CET (21:53 GMT) https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/Propulsion
The propulsion teams at the @NASA and @ESA Mission Evaluation Rooms were instrumental in developing this orbit maintenance firing that will test the auxiliary engines on a long 100-second burn.Read how they fly @NASA_Orion:https://blogs.esa.int/orion/2022/11/21/how-to-fly-orion-propulsion/
As I mentioned, we're adding new objectives to #Artemis I because @NASA_Orion is performing so well. We're orienting the spacecraft up by 20 degrees to understand Orion's thermal performance when we're not in a perfect tail-to-sun attitude and collect more data for Artemis II.
At a briefing, NASA’s Mike Sarafin says controllers have approved plans for Orion to depart the distant retrograde orbit tomorrow, as planned, with a powered lunar flyby Dec. 5 to set up a splashdown on Dec. 11.
Philippe Deloo, program manager for Orion’s European Service Module at ESA, says they are “very proud” of performance of the module, which is functioning perfectly. Generating more power but consuming less power than expected; no issues with propulsion system.
NASA noted the cabin of Orion is not being maintained at levels for crews on this uncrewed flight; temperatures are in the mid-50s F, “on the cool side, especially for us in Houston.”
Orbital Maintenance burn 3 complete! 🌒🔥Next burn for the European Service Module is the Distant Retrograde Departure - leaving Moon orbit - scheduled for 21:53 CET (20:53 GMT) on 1 December. 📅Mission managers gave a GO for this @NASA_Orion manoeuvre earlier today.
Flight Day 14: Orion's Solar Array Splits Earth and MoonNASA ID: FD14 SAWart001m1013331009 (Nov. 29, 2022) Orion’s solar arrays split the distance between Earth and the Moon on flight day 14 in this video captured by a camera on the tip of one of the spacecraft’s four solar arrays.
Flight Day 1: Orion Completes First Outbound Trajectory Correction BurnNASA ID: OTC-1art001m1203201437 (Nov. 16, 2022) Orion conducted the first outbound trajectory burn at 9:32 a.m. EST on Nov. 16, 2022. The burn tested Orion’s main engine for the first time and adjusted the spacecraft’s course toward the Moon. Several additional course correction burns are planned on journey.Date Created: 2022-11-16
We are GO to depart distant retrograde orbit. Today at 4:53 PM ET, @NASA_Orion will perform a burn to depart DRO and begin its journey back to Earth. We're covering the burn live at nasa.gov/live - Tune in starting at 4:30 PM ET.
👀I Spy, but make it space fan edition: Inside of the @NASA_Orion spacecraft in 360 degrees Before #Artemis I launched to the Moon, we captured content inside of Orion's crew module as an interactive 360 video. What payloads do you spy?
