The mission Artemis II of the POT It marked the return of humans to the orbit of the Moon after more than half a century, but it also completed other milestones during its ten-day duration, in which it became the space expedition that traveled furthest from Earth and flew over the far side of the moon.
the astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Kochfrom NASA, and Jeremy Hansenof the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) were also fortunate enough to see a total solar eclipse while orbiting the satellite.
And although the mission had delicate moments, such as the two-month delay compared to the original launch date and the toilet’s functioning problems, it made history as the first since Apollo 17 in 1972 to travel to the Moon.
1 / 29 | This was the return of the Orion capsule to Earth. Artemis II mission pilot Victor Glover descends from the recovery helicopter onto a Navy ship in the Pacific off the coast of California. -NASA
The beginning
The launch of Artemis II into space took place on April 1 from Cape Canaveral, in Floridaafter delays due to technical problems that forced takeoff to be postponed for two months.
The rocket chosen for the mission was NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS), the largest and most powerful the space agency has, which took off with the crew aboard the Orion capsule.
A 25 hour wait
The Orion spacecraft, already undocked from the rocket, did not head directly to the Moon, but rather spent 25 hours in Earth orbit while waiting for NASA experts to give the green light to begin its journey to the Earth satellite.
Before approving the translunar injection maneuver that propelled the astronauts towards the Moonengineers verified that the capsule’s solar panels, which provide its energy, were deployed and that the rest of the systems were working correctly.
Toilet problems
The unexpected protagonist of the mission was the Orion toilet, which began to fail shortly after launch, despite being an investment of $23 million.
The toilet had difficulties with the wastewater disposal system, particularly the part related to urine. Although NASA stated that this piece was operational, the problems were not completely resolved and the astronauts resorted to alternatives similar to adult diapers.
The flyby and hidden face of the Moon
The Orion capsule arrived in the area of influence of the Moon, when it becomes dominated by its gravitational force more than that of the Earth, last Monday and began a seven-hour flyby during which the astronauts photographed the lunar surface and described to NASA what they saw with their own eyes.
One of the critical moments of the mission took place when the ship lost contact with the control center for forty minutes while passing by the far side of the Moon, a factor that was already planned, since the natural satellite would prevent the passage of radio waves between the Earth and Orion.
They break a distance record
During the passage through the far side of the Moon, Artemis II became the manned mission that traveled furthest from our planet, with a distance of 406,771 kilometers from Earth.
Hours earlier he had beaten the 400,006 kilometers of Apollo 13 in 1970, which marked the previous record.
a solar eclipse
That same day, the astronauts observed a 53-minute total solar eclipse, invisible to Earth, which they took advantage of to analyze the solar corona, the outermost atmosphere of the Sun.
Additionally, they looked for impact flares (lights produced by meteoroids hitting the surface), dust raised above the edge of the Moon, and deep space targets, including planets, when the Sun was completely obscured.
Successful landing
The end of the mission came at 8:07 Eastern Time. USAwhen the Orion crew module landed in the Pacific Ocean and the four astronauts were rescued by the United States Armed Forces.
The heat shield, which had to withstand temperatures estimated at up to 2,760 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit), did its job during reentry and allowed the astronauts to return to Earth.