Progress made by the Artemis I mission “far exceeds” expectations

The Orion capsule is more than 430,000 kilometers from Earth and is traveling at 8,200 kilometers per hour, meaning it will soon exceed the record distance of Apollo 13.

immediately after Orion capsule POT It will pass about 130 kilometers from the lunar surface.American leaders of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, This Monday, they confirmed that results and progress “go much further” than expected..

“We learn at every step we take on this journey.“The analysis is comprehensive and the results far exceed expectations,” three of the Artemis program’s senior executives said at a press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Mike Sarafin, director of the Artemis mission, said that for now, “in the middle of the operation”, while Orion is “at its best” during phase 9 of stage 17, which includes the return space journey to Earth. “Exceeds expectations” and the capsule performs great.

A litmus test for the Orion capsule

Hu Howard, director of the Orion program, was even more enthusiastic. “fantastic and extraordinary” development of this experimental mission, whose goals include testing whether the Orion capsule can safely get astronauts to the Moon.

“We’re very happy. The performance of the capsule and the whole mission is incredible and tremendous,” Howard said. “great job shooting video and photo by the engineering team” your satellite.

Sarafin referred to the “reverse orbit” into which the Orion capsule is now entering, i.e. the Moon’s deflection in the opposite direction from which it was traveling around Earth, and it advanced on November 30 and 5 in the following days. Meetings will be held where 8 key decisions will be made.

More than 430,000 kilometers from Earth, Orion is traveling at 8,200 km/h and will soon cross the record distance of Apollo 13, as it will travel about 64,000 kilometers beyond Earth after completing its passage over the lunar surface. your satellite.

“The spacecraft will soon break the record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth by any spacecraft designed for human crew,” NASA said in a statement on social media. Said.

Sarafin highlighted the powered flight actuation that increased the capsule’s speed to more than 580 mph (933 km/h) and a series of “re-sync meetings, propulsion system reviews, and thermal protection.”

The expert also showed footage of some minor damage to the launch tower’s massive platform affecting the elevator system, emphasizing once again that mission performance was above planned.

Judd Frieling, flight director of the Johnson Center, detailed the capsule’s “successful maneuvers in lunar orbit” and the “engines working perfectly”, stressing that “wonderful, incredible images” were captured. Hunter rooms.

“We’re testing deep space,” Frieling added.

The overall goal of the Artemis program is to establish a base on the Moon as a previous step to reach Mars in the future. To do this, after Artemis I (carrying dummies), NASA will launch Artemis II with a crew into lunar orbit in 2024, and Artemis III is expected to take off in 2025 for a mission with astronauts, including a woman. . touch the ground of the satellite.

NASA had to delay the mission’s launch four times, twice for technical reasons and another two for meteorological reasons.

Finally, on November 16, SLS, the most powerful and largest of all NASA rockets, taller than a 30-story building (322 feet or 98 meters), took off from Kennedy Center (Florida).