Orion spacecraft successfully returned to Earth after flying more than 2.25 million kilometers - the Artemis I lunar mission is over

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has successfully completed the first mission of the Artemis lunar program, which started on November 16.

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The long-suffering Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has carried the Orion spacecraft with dummies on board into space after several launch delays. They are equipped with sensors to study the effects of radiation on the ship and crew.

On its way to a far retrograde orbit, Orion approached the surface of a satellite by 129 kilometers. At the beginning of December, the ship was more than 432,000 km away from Earth. It passed halfway through retrograde orbit and began returning home.

As planned, the spacecraft landed on a pad in the Pacific Ocean on December 11. During its journey, which lasted almost 26 days, the capsule with the dummies covered more than 2.25 million kilometers.

The rendezvous of the spacecraft was the crowning moment of the Artemis I lunar mission. The test was a very important step forward in lunar exploration. This was announced by Bill Nelson, the head of the space agency NASA.

Before entering the Earth's atmosphere, the module with the dummies separated from the service unit represented by the European Space Agency's (ESA) propulsion system. Orion was able to withstand temperatures of about 2,760 degrees Celsius. Within 20 minutes, the ship's speed dropped from 40,000 km/h to 32 km/h. The landing was carried out using a parachute system. NASA's rescue team will lift the ship in the near future. After a space trip Orio still have to sea walk to the shore and a trip by truck to the Kennedy Space Center, where NASA experts will study the capsule and the payload.

Source: space