The application set up by NASA to follow the movement of the Orion spacecraft in real time. © Nasa
The Artemis I mission is coming to an end. Within a week, on December 11, 2022 precisely, the Orion spacecraft will land in the Pacific Ocean after 25 days of travel in space and around the Moon. If he still has his way back to go, Orion already has “exceeded all expectations” of NASA, explained the aerospace agency there is little. Last week, the device even offered a record accompanied by very beautiful selfies.
The last lunar flyby live on YouTube
From beginning to end, NASA will have broadcast as much as possible of the adventures of its small spacecraft, which should allow Humanity to establish its permanent presence on the Moon in the years to come. This time, the agency proposes follow live this Monday, December 5 Orion’s last pass some 127 km above our natural satellite.
The event is broadcast on NASA’s YouTube channel. The live has already started but the space capsule will arrive closest to the Moon at 5:42 p.m.. A minute later, you’ll be able to see Orion maneuvering into its trajectory back to Earth by taking advantage of the lunar gravity. As a reminder, the spacecraft left its lunar orbit last Thursday when they were thousands of kilometers behind the visible face of our natural satellite.
And then ?
After five days of travel, the Orion ship will enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The maneuvers as well as the ship’s landing on December 11 will also be broadcast live on YouTube. This will then be the end of the Artemis I mission.
Next will come Artemis II, by 2024, during which four astronauts will circle the Moon and test different equipment in preparation for the next mission. Finally, it will be during the Artemis III mission that astronauts will finally be able to set foot on the ground of our natural satellite.
The goal of the program, launched at the instigation of former US President Donald Trump, is to establish a permanent lunar base and an orbital station serving as a waypoint for more distant exploration missions. This is notably the first milestone in order to send the first human beings to the planet Mars.