Michael Piper, Senior
After nearly one month in space, NASA’s Orion capsule is set to splash down in the Pacific on December 11. Orion has flown out to and beyond the Moon as part of the Artemis 1 mission, which aimed to test the launch vehicle and spacecraft that will take the first astronauts to lunar orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis I has been a long time coming. The Space Launch System, the rocket which launched Orion, had a very lengthy genesis. As the Space Shuttle neared retirement, Congress sought ways to keep related aerospace jobs around. They decided that a rocket derived from Shuttle components would be the best way forward, leading to the Ares rocket concepts in the late 2000s and then SLS in 2011. A target launch date of 2016 was set, but delays from cost, complexity, and eventually Coronavirus seemed to always crop up. However, after a series of launch rehearsals in mid-2022, SLS finally lifted off on November 16. Despite having been exposed to near-hurricane winds just days before, everything worked perfectly, setting the record for the most powerful rocket flown to orbit and setting Orion on course to the Moon.
Since then Orion has set several records of its own. Flying out to 450,000 kilometers from Earth, Orion has beaten the unintentional distance record of Apollo 13. It has additionally set the record for the longest deep-space mission by a human-rated vehicle, doubling the 12-day Apollo 17 mission. Orion also captured the first images of a complete eclipse of the Earth by the Moon.
Artemis I will conclude with the fastest planned reentry of an Orion capsule, exceeding the speeds of even the fastest Apollo reentries, in order to test the limits of the heat shield that will protect the crew on future missions. Artemis II is planned to take four astronauts into lunar orbit in 2024, and Artemis III will likely achieve a lunar landing before the end of the decade. Now is the best time in history to get excited about spaceflight, as Artemis combines the ambition of Apollo with the accessibility of modern technology.