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Moonbound: One Year Since Artemis I
On this day last year, the Artemis I rocket and spacecraft lit up the sky and embarked on the revolutionary mission to the Moon and back. The first integrated flight test of the rocket and spacecraft continued for 25.5 days, validating NASA’s deep exploration systems and setting the stage for humanity’s return to the lunar surface.
On Nov. 16, 2022, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket met or exceeded all expectations during its debut launch on Artemis I. The twin solid rocket booster motors responsible for producing more than 7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff reached their performance target, helping SLS and the Orion spacecraft reach a speed of about 4,000 mph in just over two minutes before the boosters separated.
Quite a few payloads caught a ride aboard the Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission: In addition to a number of small scientific satellites called CubeSats, a manikin named Commander Moonikin Campos sat in the commander’s seat. A Snoopy doll served as a zero-gravity indicator — something that floats inside the spacecraft to demonstrate microgravity.Â
During the mission, Orion performed two lunar flybys, coming within 80 miles of the lunar surface. At its farthest distance during the mission, Orion traveled nearly 270,000 miles from our home planet, more than 1,000 times farther than where the International Space Station orbits Earth. This surpassed the record for distance traveled by a spacecraft designed to carry humans, previously set during Apollo 13.
The Orion spacecraft arrived back home to planet Earth on Dec. 11, 2022. During re-entry, Orion endured temperatures about half as hot as the surface of the Sun at about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Within about 20 minutes, Orion slowed from nearly 25,000 mph to about 20 mph for its parachute-assisted splashdown.Â
Recovery teams successfully retrieved the spacecraft and delivered it back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for de-servicing operations, which included removing the payloads (like Snoopy and Commander Moonikin Campos) and analyzing the heat shield. Â
With the Artemis I mission under our belt, we look ahead to Artemis II — our first crewed mission to the Moon in over 50 years. Four astronauts will fly around the Moon inside Orion, practicing piloting the spacecraft and validating the spacecraft’s life support systems. The Artemis II crew includes: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen.Â
As we look ahead to Artemis II, we build upon the incredible success of the Artemis I mission and recognize the hard work and achievements of the entire Artemis team. Go Artemis!
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The Artemis I Mission: To the Moon and Back
The Artemis I mission was the first integrated test of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and Exploration Ground Systems at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. We’ll use these deep space exploration systems on future Artemis missions to send astronauts to the Moon and prepare for our next giant leap: sending the first humans to Mars.
Take a visual journey through the mission, starting from launch, to lunar orbit, to splashdown.
Liftoff
The SLS rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launched on Nov. 16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The world’s most powerful rocket performed with precision, meeting or exceeding all expectations during its debut launch on Artemis I.
"This is Your Moment"
Following the successful launch of Artemis I, Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson congratulates the launch team.
“The harder the climb, the better the view,” she said. “We showed the space coast tonight what a beautiful view it is.”
That's Us
On Orion’s first day of flight, a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays captured this image of Earth.
Inside Orion
On the third day of the mission, Artemis I engineers activated the Callisto payload, a technology demonstration developed by Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco that tested a digital voice assistant and video conferencing capabilities in a deep space environment. In the image, Commander Moonikin Campos occupies the commander’s seat inside the spacecraft. The Moonikin is wearing an Orion Crew Survival System suit, the same spacesuit that Artemis astronauts will use during launch, entry, and other dynamic phases of their missions. Campos is also equipped with sensors that recorded acceleration and vibration data throughout the mission that will help NASA protect astronauts during Artemis II. The Moonikin was one of three “passengers” that flew aboard Orion. Two female-bodied model human torsos, called phantoms, were aboard. Zohar and Helga, named by the Israel Space Agency (ISA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) respectively, supported the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), an experiment to provide data on radiation levels during lunar missions. Snoopy, wearing a mock orange spacesuit, also can be seen floating in the background. The character served as the zero-gravity indicator during the mission, providing a visual signifier that Orion is in space.
Far Side of the Moon
A portion of the far side of the Moon looms large in this image taken by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays on the sixth day of the mission.
First Close Approach
The Orion spacecraft captured some of the closest photos of the Moon from a spacecraft built for humans since the Apollo era — about 80 miles (128 km) above the lunar surface. This photo was taken using Orion’s optical navigational system, which captures black-and-white images of the Earth and Moon in different phases and distances.
Distant Retrograde Orbit
Orion entered a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon almost two weeks into the mission. The orbit is “distant” in the sense that it’s at a high altitude approximately 50,000 miles (80,467 km) from the surface of the Moon. Orion broke the record for farthest distance of a spacecraft designed to carry humans to deep space and safely return them to Earth, reaching a maximum distance of 268,563 miles (432,210 km).
Second Close Approach
On the 20th day of the mission, the spacecraft made its second and final close approach to the Moon flying 79.2 miles (127.5 km) above the lunar surface to harness the Moon’s gravity and accelerate for the journey back to Earth.
Cameras mounted on the crew module of the Orion spacecraft captured these views of the Moon’s surface before its return powered flyby burn.
Heading Home
After passing behind the far side of the Moon on Flight Day 20, Orion powered a flyby burn that lasted approximately 3 minutes and 27 seconds to head home. Shortly after the burn was complete, the Orion spacecraft captured these views of the Moon and Earth, which appears as a distant crescent.
Parachutes Deployed
Prior to entering the Earth’s atmosphere, Orion’s crew module separated from its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency). During re-entry, Orion endured temperatures about half as hot as the surface of the Sun at about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius). Within about 20 minutes, Orion slowed from nearly 25,000 mph (40,236 kph) to about 20 mph (32 kph) for its parachute-assisted splashdown.
Splashdown
On Dec. 11, the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California after traveling 1.4 million miles (2.3 million km) over a total of 25.5 days in space. Teams are in the process of returning Orion to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Once at Kennedy, teams will open the hatch and unload several payloads, including Commander Moonikin Campos, the space biology experiments, Snoopy, and the official flight kit. Next, the capsule and its heat shield will undergo testing and analysis over the course of several months.
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The Adventures of Commander Moonikin Campos
Artemis I will be an enormous step toward humanity’s return to the Moon. This mission will be the first flight test of the integrated Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft — the same system that will send future Artemis astronauts to the Moon. That’s why NASA needs someone capable to test the vehicle. Someone with the necessary experience. Someone with the Right Stuff. (Or... stuffing).
Meet Commander Moonikin Campos. He is a manikin, or a replica human body. Campos is named after Arturo Campos, a trailblazing NASA employee who worked on Apollo missions. Arturo Campos’ skill as an electrical engineer was pivotal in the rescue efforts to help guide the Apollo 13 astronauts home.
As the leader of the mission, Commander Campos will be flying in the pilot’s seat for the length of the mission: a journey of 1.3 million miles (~2 million km) around the Moon and back to Earth. He's spent years training for this mission and he loves a challenge. Campos will be equipped with two radiation sensors and will have additional sensors under his headrest and behind his seat to record acceleration and vibration data throughout the mission.
Traveling with Campos are his quirky companions, Zohar and Helga. They’re part of a special experiment to measure radiation outside of the protective bubble of Earth’s atmosphere. Together with their commander, they’re excited to play a role in humanity’s next great leap. (And hopefully they can last the entire flight without getting on each other's nerves.)
Will our brave explorers succeed on their mission and ensure the success of future Artemis operations? Can Commander Moonikin Campos live up to the legacy of his heroic namesake?? And did anyone remember to bring snacks??? Get the answers in this thrilling three-part series!
In the first part of Commander Moonikin Campos’ journey, our trailblazing hero prepares for liftoff from NASA’s spaceport at Kennedy Space Center  in Florida, gets acquainted with the new hardware aboard the Orion spacecraft, and meets his crewmates: Helga and Zohar!
In the second part of the trio’s adventure, Campos, Helga, and Zohar blast out of the Earth’s atmosphere with nearly 8.8 million pounds (4 million kg) of thrust powering their ascent. Next stop: the Moon!
In the final chapter of the Artemis I mission, Campos and friends prepare for their return home, including the last and most dangerous part of their journey: reentering Earth’s atmosphere at a screeching 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 kph).
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!
NASA’s Artemis I Rocket is on the Launch Pad — and in Your Living Room
Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft: the rocket and spacecraft that will send future astronauts to the Moon!
Before we embark on the uncrewed Artemis I mission to the Moon and back, the rocket and spacecraft will need to undergo a test at the launch pad called a “wet dress rehearsal.” This test will take the team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida through every step of the launch countdown, including filling the rocket’s tanks with propellant.
But in the meantime, you can take a closer look at SLS and the Orion spacecraft by downloading the 3D model for free on the NASA app! You can view the SLS model in augmented reality by placing it virtually in your own environment – on your desk, for example. Or standing beside your family pet!
SLS and Orion join more than 40 other 3D models in the app, including BioSentinel, one of 10 CubeSats flying aboard Artemis I.
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A dream takes flight! Today, our Ingenuity #MarsHelicopter became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet.
In a video captured by our Perseverance Mars rover, the helicopter is shown hovering above the Red Planet's surface. During this first flight, the helicopter climbed to an altitude of 10 feet (3 meters), hovered, and then touched back down on the surface of Mars.
More images and video to come...
Join us at 2 p.m. ET (18:00 UTC) for an analysis of Ingenuity’s first flight and what's to come:
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Going the Distance... In Space
On April 17, NASA's New Horizons crossed a rare deep-space milestone – 50 astronomical units from the Sun, or 50 times farther from the Sun than Earth is. New Horizons is just the fifth spacecraft to reach this great distance, following the legendary Voyagers 1 and 2 and Pioneers 10 and 11. It’s almost 5 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) away; a remote region where a signal radioed from NASA's largest antennas on Earth, even traveling at the speed of light, needs seven hours to reach the far-flung spacecraft.
To celebrate reaching 50 AU, the New Horizons team compiled a list of 50 facts about the mission. Here are just a few of them; you'll find the full collection at: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Fifty-Facts.php.
New Horizons is the first – and so far, only – spacecraft to visit Pluto. New Horizons sped through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015, providing a history-making close-up view of the dwarf planet and its family of five moons.
New Horizons is carrying some of the ashes of Pluto’s discoverer, Clyde Tombaugh. In 1930, the amateur astronomer spotted Pluto in a series of telescope images at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, making him the first American to discover a planet.
The “Pluto Not Yet Explored” U.S. stamp that New Horizons carries holds the Guinness World Record for the farthest traveled postage stamp. The stamp was part of a series created in 1991, when Pluto was the last unexplored planet in the solar system.
Dispatched at 36,400 miles per hour (58, 500 kilometers per hour) on January 19, 2006, New Horizons is still the fastest human-made object ever launched from Earth.
As the spacecraft flew by Jupiter’s moon Io, in February 2007, New Horizons captured the first detailed movie of a volcano erupting anywhere in the solar system except Earth.
New Horizons’ radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) – its nuclear battery – will provide enough power to keep the spacecraft operating until the late-2030s.
Measurements of the universe’s darkness using New Horizons data found that the universe is twice as bright as predicted – a major extragalactic astronomy discovery!
New Horizons’ Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter is the first student-built instrument on any NASA planetary mission – and is providing unprecedented insight into the dust environment in the outer solar system.
New Horizons is so far away, that even the positons of the stars look different than what we see from Earth. This view of an "alien sky" allowed scientists to make stereo images of the nearest stars against the background of the galaxy.
Arrokoth – the official name the mission team proposed for the Kuiper Belt object New Horizons explored in January 2019 – is a Native American term that means “sky” in the Powhatan/Algonquin language.
Stay tuned in to the latest New Horizons updates on the mission website and follow NASA Solar System on Twitter and Facebook.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Here’s What You Need to Know About Near-Earth Objects
Our solar system is littered with asteroids and comets, and sometimes they get a little close to Earth. But no need to worry! This happens all the time. When an asteroid or comet could come close to our planet, it’s known as a near-Earth object – aka NEO.
But how close is “close”?
A near-Earth object is defined as an object that could pass by our Earth within 30 million miles. We begin to keep close watch on objects that could pass within 5 million miles of our planet.
To put that into perspective, our Moon is only 238,900 miles away.
However unlikely an impact is, we want to know about all near-Earth objects. Our Planetary Defense Coordination Office maintains watch for asteroids and comets coming close to Earth. Along with our partners, we discover, catalog and characterize these bodies.
But what if one of these objects posed a threat?
We want to be prepared. That is why we are working on several deflection techniques and technologies to help protect our planet.
So next time that you hear of an asteroid passing “close” to Earth, know that it’s just one of many that we are tracking.
Here are 10 more things you should know about Planetary Defense.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space:Â http://nasa.tumblr.com
That's a wrap! Thank you all for the wonderful questions.
NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Mission Engineer Chloe Sackier answered questions about how we prepared for the mission, Perseverance’s entry, descent, and landing, and what Perseverance will do once on Mars.
Check out her full Answer Time for more: Career | Preparation | Entry, Descent, & Landing | Operation
We hope you had fun today and learned a little bit about our robotic astrobiologist landing on Mars on February 18th. You won't want to miss this! Tune in to NASA TV HERE starting at 2:15 p.m. EST.
If today’s Answer Time got you excited, team up with us to #CoutdownToMars! We created a virtual Mars photo booth, have sounds of Mars to listen to and more for all you Earthlings to channel your inner Martian. Check out ways to participate HERE.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Hello!! Its wonderful to be able to ask questions, thank you!
About Perseverance, does it have a self-repair option? And as Curiosity is still operational, will they run missions together? Or will they split up to cover more distance?
Is this a sign that we're close to being able to set foot on Mars?
My final question is how do you receive the messages from such a long distance?
Thanks for all your hard work! ĺŠ ć˛ą/Good luck!
“Is this a sign that we are close to being able to set foot on Mars?”
What do you hope to find on the mars? / What would be the best possible outcome?
How will the audio feed from Perseverance make its way back to Earth?
What kind of math is needed to get to Mars? How is the path of the lander calculated?
Will the robot be able to send vedio footage?
I've been very curious about the basis on which the landing site is decided! I read that it will land in the Jerezo crater, so is there a particular reason behind choosing that place for the landing?
Why is the final phase so difficult?Sorry if I sound dumb,I'm just curious.Also,what will be the rover's first task after landing?
Is there any chance that something could go wrong?
What is the weirdest thing you had to account for when building the perseverance rover?
what has nasa and jpl learned from opportunity that has helped with developing this new project?
what is the biggest challenge in the preparation of such a mission and how do you handle it?
What do you hope to find using this new technology? When you were a kid, did you ever dream of landing on Mars? Even if you may not be visiting, tech that you have sway over is.
“When you wer a kid, did you ever dream of landing on Mars?”
how much (or are you at all) treated differently for being a women in your field? I know it’s a different experience for everyone and I just wanted to hear your perspective
hi! i hope you're doing well. i wanted to ask, how do you land a job at nasa?
thanks!
What led you to this job? (what’s your degree in/what are your passions)
What's your favorite part of the job?
Thank you for joining the #CountdownToMars! The Mars Perseverance Answer Time with expert Chloe Sackier is LIVE!
Stay tuned for talks about landing a rover on Mars, Perseverance's science goals on the Red Planet, landing a career at NASA and more. View ALL the answers HERE.Â
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
An Addition to our Space Rock Collection
On October 20th, our OSIRIS-REx mission will make its first attempt to collect and retrieve a sample of asteroid Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid. On sample collection day, Bennu will be over 200 million miles away from Earth. Â
Asteroids are the building blocks of our solar system. A sample of this ancient material can tell us about the history of our planet and the origins of life. Science results published from the mission on October 8th confirm that Bennu contains carbon in a form often found in biology or in compounds associated with biology.
To collect a sample, OSIRIS-REx will attempt a method NASA has never used before – called Touch-And-Go (TAG).  First, the spacecraft extends its robotic sampling arm, the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – from its folded storage position. The spacecraft’s two solar panels then move into a “Y-wing” configuration over the spacecraft’s body, which positions them safely up and away from the asteroid’s surface during touch down. This configuration also places the spacecraft’s center of gravity directly over the TAGSAM collector head, which is the only part of the spacecraft that will contact Bennu’s surface.
Finding a safe sample collection site on Bennu’s rocky landscape was a challenge. During the sampling event, the spacecraft, which is the size of a large van, will attempt to touch down in an area that is only the size of a few parking spaces, and just a few steps away from enormous boulders.
The spacecraft will only make contact with Bennu for a matter of seconds - just long enough to blow nitrogen gas onto the surface to roil up dust and small pebbles, which will then be captured for a return to Earth.
We need to conduct a few tests before we can confirm we collected a large enough sample (about 2 oz). First, OSIRIS-REx will take images of the collector head to see if it contains rocks and dust. Second, the spacecraft will spin with the TAGSAM extended to determine the mass of collected material. If these measures show a successful collection, we will stow the sample for return to Earth. If sufficient sample has not been collected, the spacecraft has onboard nitrogen charges for two more attempts. The next TAG attempt would be made no earlier than January 2021.
Despite the many challenges, the OSIRIS-REx team is ready. They’ve practiced and prepared for this moment.
Join in with #ToBennuAndBack and tune in on October 20th.
Learn more about the OSIRIS-REx countdown to TAGÂ HERE.
Learn more about the OSIRIS-REx mission HERE, or follow the mission on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
What range/area will Perseverance be able to cover on the Martian surface? I'm assuming it's greater than the other rovers but by how much?
Do you have any messages or tips for other girls who want to study and work in STEM fields?
Why do scientists think there could have been life on Mars?