Infographic of the trajectory of the Artemis 1 mission.
Image credit: NASA
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Artemis I, previously known as Exploration Mission-1, will be NASA's first comprehensive test of a deep space exploration system, including the Orion spacecraft, a space launch system rocket, and a ground-based system at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. As the first in a series of missions of increasing complexity, the Artemis 1 mission will be a unmanned flight test that will lay the groundwork for human exploration of deep space while demonstrating our commitment and ability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.
On this flight, the Orion spacecraft will be launched on the world's most powerful rocket, and it will fly farther than any spacecraft built for manned missions. Over the course of about 3 weeks of the mission, it will sail 450,000 kilometers away from Earth and thousands of kilometers from the moon. Compared to manned space missions that have not docked with the International Space Station, Orion will stay in space for a longer period of time and return to Earth faster and warmer than ever before.
"This mission will truly accomplish what has not yet been accomplished, learning unknowable information," said Mike Sarafin, mission leader at Artemis 1 at NASA's Washington headquarters, "and it will open the way for the next Orion manned mission and adequate and perfect preparation for the Artemis 2 mission." ”
Leave Earth
NASA's Space Launch System rocket will carry the Orion spacecraft and launch from the 39B launch site of NASA's modern spaceport at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Space Launch System and Orion will be launched from the 39B launch site of NASA's modern spaceport at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. To better transport astronauts or cargo beyond the Moon and beyond the near-Earth orbit, the Space Launch System rocket came into being, generating 8.8 million pounds (about 40 million newtons) of thrust during launch and ascent and putting a nearly 6 million pounds (about 2.7 million kilograms) of vehicles into orbit. Propelled by a pair of five-stage boosters and four RS-25 engines, the rocket will reach a period of maximum atmospheric drag in 90 seconds. After separating the booster, service module panel, and launch abort system, the rocket's core stage engines shut down and separate from the Orion spacecraft.
During the Artemis 1 mission, the Orion spacecraft will explore thousands of kilometers beyond the moon in a mission of about 3 weeks.
When the Orion spacecraft orbits the Earth, it will deploy its solar array, and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) will give Orion the huge boost it needs to leave Earth's orbit and head to the moon. From there, Orion will be separated from ICPS for about 2 hours after launch, and then, ICPS will deploy a number of small satellites called CubeSat for multiple experiments and technology demonstrations.
Go to the moon
As Orion continues its path from Earth orbit to the moon, it will be propelled forward by a service module provided by the European Space Agency that will serve as the spacecraft's primary propulsion system and energy source, and it will also provide astronauts with air and water in the cabin for future manned missions. Orion will pass through the Van Allen radiation belts, fly over the GPS satellite constellation and communications satellites in Earth's orbit. To communicate with mission control in Houston, USA, Orion will switch from NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites system to the Deep Space Network. From here, Orion will continue to showcase its unique design for navigation, communication, and operation in a deep space environment.
The trip to the moon will take several days, during which time engineers will evaluate Orion's system and correct the spacecraft's trajectory as needed. Orion will fly about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface, then use the moon's gravitational pull to propel itself to a position about 40,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) from the moon and into a new retrograde orbit.
The Orion spacecraft will remain in orbit for about 6 days to collect data and allow mission controllers to evaluate the spacecraft's performance. During this time, Orion will orbit the Moon retrograde in the opposite direction around the Earth.
Return and reentrant
To return to Earth, Orion will make a second close-range flight, this time at an altitude of about 60 miles (97 kilometers) above the lunar surface, ignited by another precision-timed engine provided by Europe,combined with the acceleration of the moon's gravity, and the spacecraft will end its orbit around the moon and return to Earth. The operation will allow the spacecraft to return to Earth in its planned orbit, entering Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 25,000 mph (11 km/s), when temperatures will reach about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius), both at speed and temperature, and the constellation Orion in Artemis 1 will be higher than it experienced in 2014.
In about three weeks, Orion will fly a total distance of more than 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers), and the Artemis 1 mission will also end with a test of Orion's ability to safely return to Earth, when the spacecraft will accurately land in the line of sight of a recovery ship off the coast of Baja, California. After the safe splash, Orion will remain powered on for some time, and divers from the U.S. Navy and operations teams from NASA's Exploration Ground Systems will take small boats from the waiting recovery ship to approach the spacecraft. Divers will simply check the spacecraft for hazards and attach the tow rope, and engineers will then drag the capsule into the well deck of the recovery ship and "check it home."
Future tasks
With this first mission, NASA is leading the next step in human exploration of deep space, where astronauts will build and begin testing lunar surface missions to explore the lunar proximity systems needed for other destinations farther from Earth, including Mars. The second mission will take astronauts into different orbits and test Orion's critical systems in a manned manner. For space launch system rockets, it will evolve from an initial configuration capable of sending more than 26 tons to a final configuration that can send at least 45 tons. Together, Orion, the Space Launch System and Kennedy's Ground System will be able to meet the needs of deep space's most challenging manned and cargo missions.
In the future, Orion's manned exploration mission will be assembled and docked with the Gateway. NASA and its partners will use the Gateway for deep space operations, including missions to and to the Moon, while reducing their dependence on Earth. Using lunar orbit, we will gain the experience necessary to enable human exploration to go deeper into the solar system than ever before.
References:
[1] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/around-the-moon-with-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-with-orion
[2] https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/artemis-i-map
[3] https://www.nasa.gov/experience-artemis-1