NASA new spacecraft Orion performs orbit correction for returning to Earth Artemis 1 mission follow-up

[▲ The Moon and Earth taken by the camera of the Orion spacecraft on the 20th day of the mission (December 5, 2022) (Credit: NASA)]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on December 6 (Japan time, the same applies below) the last important trajectory correction injection to return the new spacecraft “Orion”, which is undergoing unmanned flight tests, to Earth. announced that it was completed. With less than a week until the return of the Orion spacecraft, the mission is nearing its end.

[Special Feature]”Artemis 1″ The First Mission of the Manned Lunar Exploration Plan

The Orion spacecraft is a manned spacecraft developed by NASA assuming the lunar exploration plan “Artemis” and future Mars exploration. NASA launched Orion on November 16, 2022 with the first new rocket “SLS (Space Launch System)” to conduct unmanned flight tests on the “Artemis 1” mission.

On November 21, the Orion spacecraft approached the lunar surface to a distance of about 81 miles (about 130 km) on the far side of the moon and changed its orbit. Arrived in an orbit that is retrograde to the direction of rotation of the moon called. After conducting various inspections of the Orion spacecraft in the deep space environment, NASA performed an engine firing on December 2nd to release the Orion spacecraft from the DRO.

NASA performed an engine injection for 3 minutes and 27 seconds in time for the Orion spacecraft to reapproach the moon at 1:43 on December 6, 2022, at a distance of 80.6 miles (about 130 km). The Orion spacecraft, whose trajectory has been corrected by the moon’s gravity and engine firing, is heading for Earth. After re-entering the atmosphere, the crew module of the Orion spacecraft is scheduled to land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, USA, six days later at 02:40 on December 12, 2022.

[▲ A diagram showing the outline of the Artemis 1 mission. The trajectory correction injection performed on December 6, 2022 corresponds to 13 steps in the figure (Credit: NASA)]

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