NASA’s Orion capsule returned in a flash from lunar Sunday and parachuted into the Pacific Ocean off Mexico to complete a test flight that should clear the way for astronauts on the next lunar flyby.
The incoming capsule struck the atmosphere at Mach 32, or 32 times the speed of sound, and withstood re-entry temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) before splashing down west of Baja California near Guadalupe Island. A Navy ship quickly pulled in to recover the spacecraft and its silent occupants – three dummies equipped with vibration sensors and radiation monitors.
NASA hailed the descent and splashdown as near perfect when congratulations arrived from Washington.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson of Mission Control in Houston. “This is an extraordinary day… It’s historic because we are now going back into space – Deep Space – with a new generation.”
The space agency needed one successful splashdown to stay on course for the next Orion Flight around the moon planned for 2024 with four astronauts to be revealed early next year. This would be followed by a two-person moon landing as early as 2025 and eventually a sustainable moon base. The long-term plan would be to launch a Mars expedition by the late 2030s.
Astronauts last landed on the moon 50 years ago. After landing on December 11, 1972, Apollo 17’s Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the Taurus-Littrow Valley, the longest stay of the Apollo era. They were the last of the 12 moonwalkers.
Orion has since become the first capsule to visit the Moon, launching Nov. 16 on NASA’s new Mega-Moon rocket from Kennedy Space Center. It was the first flight of NASA’s new Artemis lunar program, named for Apollo’s mythological twin sister.
“From Tranquility Base to Taurus-Littrow to the calm waters of the Pacific, the latest chapter in NASA’s voyage to the Moon draws to a close. Orion back on Earth,” announced Mission Control commentator Rob Navias.
While no one was on the $4 billion test flight, NASA executives were excited to go through with the dress rehearsal, especially after so many years of flight delays and stretched budgets. Fuel leaks and hurricanes caused further delays in late summer and autumn.
In an Apollo throwback, NASA hosted a splashdown party at Houston’s Johnson Space Center on Sunday, where employees and their families gathered to watch the broadcast of Orion’s homecoming. Next door, the visitor center hosted a party for the public.
Getting Orion back intact after the 25-day flight was NASA’s number one goal. With a return speed of 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h) – significantly faster than from low Earth orbit – the capsule used a new, advanced heat shield never before tested in space travel. To reduce gravity or G-loads, it dove into the atmosphere and briefly popped out, which also helped locate the splash area.
It all unfolded in spectacular fashion, officials noted, allowing for Orion’s safe return.
“I don’t think any of us could have imagined such a successful mission,” said Mission Manager Mike Sarafin.
Further inspections will be conducted once Orion is back in Kennedy later this month. If capsule reviews find nothing unusual, NASA will announce the first lunar crew in early 2023 amid considerable fanfare, choosing from the 42 active-duty US astronauts stationed at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
“People are concerned, we know that,” Vanessa Wyche, Johnson’s director, told reporters. Nelson added, “The American people, just like[with]the original seven astronauts in the Mercury days, are going to want to know about these astronauts.”
The capsule crashed more than 300 miles (482 kilometers) south of the original target zone. Forecasts calling for choppy seas and high winds off the coast of Southern California prompted NASA to change locations.
Orion traveled 1.4 million miles (2.25 million kilometers) as it zoomed toward the moon and then entered a wide, plummeting orbit for almost a week before flying home.
Twice he approached the moon up to 130 kilometers. At its most distant, the capsule was more than 268,000 miles (430,000 kilometers) from Earth.
Orion beamed back stunning photos of not only the gray, pitted moon, but the home planet as well. As a farewell shot, the capsule revealed a crescent-shaped Earth – Earthrise – that left the mission team speechless.
Nottingham Trent University astronomer Daniel Brown said the flight’s many accomplishments illustrate NASA’s ability to get astronauts on the next Artemis moonshot.
“This was the exciting end of an amazing and important journey for NASA’s Orion spacecraft,” Brown said in a statement from England.
The moon has never been hotter. Just hours earlier on Sunday, a spacecraft shot from Cape Canaveral to the moon. The lunar lander is owned by ispace, a Tokyo company that wants to build an economy up there. Two US companies, meanwhile, launched lunar landers early next year.
