The Orion capsule safely arrived with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean
(NASA https://bit.ly/3FiZNBD)
The return capsule of the Orion spacecraft successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
Thus, the first flight to the Moon of a ship in an unmanned version as part of the Artemis program has been fully completed.
In total, Artemis-1 took 25 days, launching on November 16, 2022, when the SLS heavy rocket made its first flight, launching Orion, as well as 10 cubesat satellites into space.
During the flight, the ship itself made two close flybys of the Moon, and also spent a week in a far retrograde circumlunar orbit, conducting various experiments with onboard systems.
There were also two mannequins on board as part of a biological radiation experiment, as well as yeast, algae, fungi and seeds of Tal's clover as part of biological experiments.
The return flight to Earth at the ship took 5 days.
On December 11, Orion approached the Earth, after which the European service module and the Orion return capsule separated.
The capsule then turned around to properly orient the heat shield and entered the Earth's atmosphere.
After that, it released its parachutes and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 20:40 Moscow time near the island of Guadalupe.
In the near future, the capsule will be lifted aboard a rescue vessel.
Sources:
- NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/splashdown-nasa-s-orion-returns-to-earth-after-historic-moon-mission
- Space.com: https://www.space.com/artemis-1-orion-spacecraft-splashdown-what-time
- Steemit: https://steemit.com/hive-109160/@sarahjay1/artemis-1-orion-made-the-first-close-flyby-of-the-moon
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