Houston – The Artemis II astronauts, about to reach their grand finale, headed to the Pacific on Friday to make humanity’s first trip to the Moon in more than half a century.
Tension in Mission Control increased as the miles dissipated between the four returning astronauts and Earth.
All eyes were on the capsule’s heat shield, which must withstand thousands of degrees during reentry. On the craft’s only other test flight – in 2022, with no one on board – the shield’s charred exterior came back looking the same pockmarked look as the Moon.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen were on their way to reaching the atmosphere traveling at Mach 32 – or 32 times the speed of sound – a dizzying speed not seen since NASA’s Apollo moon launches in the 1960s and 1970s.
1/8 | Artemis II leaves the dark side of the Moon: photos from the ship. NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft regained contact with Earth this Monday after spending about 40 minutes in absolute silence while flying over the far side of the Moon, a common interruption in this type of mission. – The Associated Press
They did not plan to take manual control except in an emergency. Its Orion capsule, called Integrity, is completely self-flying.
Like so many others, flight director Jeff Radigan expected to feel some of that “irrational fear typical of human nature,” especially during the six-minute communications blackout that preceded the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha was awaiting the crew’s arrival, along with a squadron of military aircraft and helicopters.
The last time NASA and the Department of Defense teamed up for a lunar crew reentry was on Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was expected to return at a speed of 10,657 meters per second, or 38,367 km/h (23,840 mph), not a record, but a mind-blowing speed before slowing to 30 km/h (19 mph).
Artemis II record flight and lunar views
Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts reaped victory after victory as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar return, the first big step toward establishing a sustainable lunar base.
Artemis II did not land on the Moon, nor did it even orbit it. But it broke the distance record of Apollo 13, making Wiseman and his crew the astronauts who have reached the furthest from Earth, with 406,771 kilometers. In the most heartbreaking scene of the mission, the astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their lunar ship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.
During the record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the lunar far side never seen with the naked eye and enjoyed a total solar eclipse courtesy of the cosmos thanks to their launch date. The eclipse, in particular, “blew us all away,” Glover said.
His sense of wonder and love amazed everyone, as did his stunning images of the Moon and Earth. The crew of Artemis II imitated the first lunar explorers of Apollo 8 with Earthset, showing our blue marble behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of the famous shot of Apollo 8’s Earth departure in 1968.
“It makes you want to keep coming back,” Radigan said the day before splashdown. “It is the first of many trips and we have to move forward because there is much more to learn about the Moon.”
Their project attracted global attention and the support of stars such as President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, King Charles III of Great Britain, Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space movie “Project Hail Mary,” Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, of the original television series “Star Trek.”
Artemis II was a test flight for future lunar missions
Despite its rich scientific output, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical problems. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propulsion systems suffered valve problems. In perhaps the most notorious predicament, problems with the toilet prevented the crew from using it for No. 1 for most of the voyage, forcing them to resort to the old bags and funnels.
The astronauts shrugged.
“We can’t explore further unless we do some uncomfortable things,” Koch said, “unless we make some sacrifices, unless we take some risks, and all of those things are worth it.”
Hansen added: “There are a lot of tests done on the ground, but the final test is when you take this hardware to space and it is amazing.”
As part of the renewed Artemis program, next year astronauts will practice docking their capsule with one or two lunar landers in orbit around the Earth on Artemis III. Artemis IV will attempt to land a two-person crew near the Moon’s south pole in 2028.
The loyalty of the Artemis II crew was with the crews of subsequent Artemises, Wiseman said.
“But what we really hoped was that for a moment the world would stop and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and that we should all appreciate what we have been given,” he declared.
This story was translated from English to Spanish with an artificial intelligence tool and was reviewed by an editor before publication.