Perfect splashdown for Artemis in Pacific revives dream of human travel to Moon exactly 50 years after last landing
NASA mission controllers breathed a sigh of relief after the Orion crew module splashed down successfully into the Pacific, exactly 50 years after humans last landed on the Moon.
The little unmanned spacecraft entered the water at 5.41pm after a nerve-jangling 15 minute journey through the Earth’s atmosphere, in which it battled 5,000F (2,760C) temperatures – half as hot as the outer surface of the Sun.
The flight, launched from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Nov 16, is the first of the Artemis missions, which are seeking to take humans back to the Moon. Orion has been on a 25-day test flight to make sure its systems are functioning properly before astronauts get on board.
Its journey saw it orbit the Moon before travelling further into space than any other human-rated spacecraft.
Artemis II, which is scheduled for 2024 will take humans back to the Moon’s orbit, before a landing in 2025.
Sunday’s splashdown happened exactly 50 years after the last moonwalkers, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, landed on the lunar surface in Apollo 17. Cathy Koerner, Nasa’s deputy administrator for exploration systems,
said: “It seems fitting we would honour Apollo with the new legacy of the Artemis mission today. This has been a phenomenal mission this far. If you asked for a grade, I would give us an A-plus.”
Orion made a complicated “skip reentry” that involved dipping into the atmosphere then out again, like a flat rock skimming the pond to help slow the spacecraft down. Mission control faced two nail-biting blackout periods during reentry where they lost contact with the craft.
Once through the atmosphere, a complex network of 11 parachutes deployed to slow down the 24,464 mph spacecraft, so it could drop gently into the five foot waves off the coast of Baja California, Mexico.
The textbook splashdown saw the capsule land perfectly upright, although bags were ready to inflate, in case it needed flipping over.
Rob Navias, of Nasa communications,
said: “This is what we hoped for, Orion safely bobbing down in the Pacific Ocean.” A team of Navy divers from the USS Portland will need to wait two hours before recovering the capsule, to make sure Orion was completely cooled down and was not venting toxic gases.
After recovery, analysis teams will scrutinise the on-board sensors that have been measuring radiation and heat levels to make sure astronauts will be safe when they go up.
Two torso mannequins named Helga and Zohar were strapped into the crew seats, one with a radiation vest and one without.
Melissa Jones, Nasa landing and recovery director, praised the landing: “We had a picture perfect splashdown. It has been a long time coming, it’s just amazing.”
Bill Nelson, Nasa administrator, said: “It’s history because we are going back into deep space with a new generation.”