Watch Live: Artemis 1 spacecraft heads for splashdown to wrap up historic mission - CBS News

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Closing retired a 25-day voyage astir the moon, NASA's Artemis 1 spacecraft fell backmost toward Earth Sunday, connected way for a 25,000-mph re-entry Sunday that volition taxable the unpiloted capsule to a hellish 5,000-degree inferno earlier splashdown disconnected Baja California.

In an unexpected but richly-symbolic coincidence, the extremity of the Artemis 1 mission, expected astatine 12:39 p.m. EST, volition travel 50 years to the time aft the last Apollo satellite landing successful 1972.

Testing the Orion capsule's 16.5-foot-wide Apollo-derived Avcoat vigor shield is the apical precedence of the Artemis 1 mission, "and it is our priority-one nonsubjective for a reason," said ngo manager Mike Safarin.

"There is nary arc pitchy oregon aerothermal installation present connected Earth susceptible of replicating hypersonic reentry with a vigor shield of this size," helium said. "And it is simply a marque caller vigor shield design, and it is simply a safety-critical portion of equipment. It is designed to support the spacecraft and (future astronauts) ... truthful the vigor shield needs to work."

On November 28, halfway done the Artemis 1 mission, a camera connected 1 of the Orion spacecraft's 4 star wings captured this iconic presumption of the blue-and-white Earth and satellite (at little right). NASA

Launched Nov. 16 connected the maiden formation of NASA's immense caller Space Launch System rocket, the unpiloted Orion capsule was propelled retired of Earth orbit and connected to the satellite for an exhaustive bid of tests, putting its propulsion, navigation, powerfulness and machine systems done their paces successful the heavy abstraction environment.

While formation controllers ran into still-unexplained glitches with its powerfulness system, archetypal "funnies" with its prima trackers and degraded show from a phased array antenna, the Orion spacecraft and its European Space Agency-built work module worked good overall, achieving virtually each of their large objectives to this point.

"We've collected an immense magnitude of information characterizing strategy show from the powerfulness system, the propulsion, GNC (guidance, navigation and control) and truthful far, the formation power squad has downlinked to implicit 140 gigabytes of engineering and imagery data," said Jim Geffre, the Orion conveyance integration manager.

The Orion spacecraft followed a trajectory that included a adjacent lunar flyby and a consequent motor firing to scope the planned "distant retrograde orbit" astir the moon. After a fractional lap, the spacecraft's motor fired doubly much to acceptable up a 2nd adjacent flyby of the satellite that, successful turn, sent the capsule connected its mode backmost to Earth for a Sunday splashdown successful the Pacific Ocean westbound of Baja California. NASA

The squad is already analyzing that information "to assistance not lone recognize the show connected Artemis 1, but play guardant for each consequent missions," helium said.

If each goes well, NASA plans to travel the Artemis 1 ngo by sending 4 astronauts astir the satellite successful the program's 2nd formation — Artemis 2 — successful 2024. The archetypal moon-landing would travel successful the 2025-26 timeframe erstwhile NASA says the archetypal pistillate and the adjacent antheral volition acceptable ft connected the lunar surface.

The unpiloted Artemis 1 capsule flew done fractional of an orbit astir the satellite that carried it farther from Earth — 268,563 miles — than immoderate erstwhile human-rated spacecraft. Two captious firings of its main motor acceptable up a low-altitude lunar flyby past Monday that, successful turn, enactment the trade connected people for splashdown Sunday.

NASA primitively planned to bring the vessel down westbound of San Diego, but a predicted acold beforehand bringing higher winds and rougher seas prompted ngo managers to determination the landing tract southbound by astir 350 miles. Splashdown is present expected southbound of Guadalupe Island immoderate 200 miles westbound of Baja California.

Approaching from astir owed south, the Orion spacecraft, traveling astatine 32 times the velocity of sound, is expected to slam backmost into the discernible ambiance astatine an altitude of 400,000 feet, oregon astir 76 miles, astatine 12:20 p.m.

The Orion spacecraft volition alert an antithetic "skip entry" trajectory during its instrumentality to Earth, skipping disconnected the apical of the discernible ambiance similar a chromatic crossed calm h2o earlier a 2nd plunge to splashdown. NASA

NASA planners devised a unsocial "skip-entry" illustration that volition origin Orion skip crossed the apical of the ambiance similar a level chromatic skipping crossed calm water. Orion volition plunge from 400,000 feet to astir 200,000 feet successful conscionable 2 minutes, past ascent backmost up to astir 295,000 feet earlier resuming its computer-guided autumn to Earth.

Within a infinitesimal and a fractional of entry, atmospheric friction volition make temperatures crossed the vigor shield reaching astir 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, enveloping the spacecraft successful an electrically charged plasma that volition artifact communications with formation controllers for astir 5 minutes.

After different two-and-a-half infinitesimal communications blackout during its 2nd driblet into the little atmosphere, the spacecraft volition proceed decelerating arsenic it closes successful connected the targeted landing site, slowing to astir 650 mph, astir the velocity of sound, astir 15 minutes aft the introduction began.

Finally, astatine an altitude of astir 22,000 feet and a velocity of astir 280 mph, tiny drogue parachutes volition deploy to stabilize the spacecraft. The ship's main parachutes volition deploy astatine an altitude of astir 5,000 feet, slowing Orion to a sedate 18 mph oregon truthful for splashdown.

An Orion mockup is hauled into the flooded good platform of a Navy amphibious dock vas during grooming to hole for Sunday's splashdown and betterment of the existent Artemis 1 spacecraft aft its 1.4-million-mile trial formation astir the moon. NASA

The expected ngo duration was 25 days 10 hours 52 minutes, covering 1.4 cardinal miles since blastoff connected Nov. 16.

NASA and Navy betterment crews aboard the USS Portland, an amphibious dock vessel, volition beryllium lasting by wrong show of splashdown, acceptable to unafraid the trade and tow it into the Navy ship's flooded "well deck."

Once the deck's gates are closed, the h2o volition beryllium pumped out, leaving Orion connected a customized stand, protecting its vigor shield, for the travel backmost to Naval Base San Diego.

But first, the betterment squad volition basal by for up to 2 hours portion engineers cod information connected however the vigor of re-entry soaked into the spacecraft and what effects, if any, that mightiness person connected the unit compartment temperature.

"We are connected way to person a afloat palmy ngo with immoderate bonus objectives that we've achieved on the way," Sarafin said. "And connected introduction day, we volition recognize our precedence 1 objective, which is to show the conveyance astatine lunar re-entry conditions."

In:
• Artemis Program
• NASA