"With the accomplishment of the first major milestone of the mission, Orion will now embark on the next phase to test its systems and prepare for future missions with astronauts." "The Space Launch System rocket delivered the power and performance to send Orion on its way to the Moon," said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. 21, performing a close approach of the lunar surface on its way to a distant retrograde orbit, a highly stable orbit thousands of miles beyond the Moon. Orion is expected to fly by the Moon on Nov. In the coming days, mission controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will conduct additional checkouts and course corrections as needed.
#ORION ARTEMIS NASA SERIES#
Orion's service module will also perform the first of a series of burns to keep Orion on course toward the Moon approximately eight hours after launch. Each CubeSat has its own mission that has the potential to fill gaps in our knowledge of the solar system or demonstrate technologies that may benefit the design of future missions to explore the Moon and beyond. Over the next several hours, a series of 10 small science investigations and technology demonstrations, called CubeSats, will deploy from a ring that connected the upper stage to the spacecraft. "This successful launch means NASA and our partners are on a path to explore farther in space than ever before for the benefit of humanity." "It's taken a lot to get here, but Orion is now on its way to the Moon," said Jim Free, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. Orion has separated from its upper stage and is on its outbound coast to the Moon powered by its service module, which is the propulsive powerhouse provided by ESA (European Space Agency) through an international collaboration.
About 1.5 hours into flight, the rocket's upper stage engine successfully fired for approximately 18 minutes to give Orion the big push needed to send it out of Earth orbit and toward the Moon. This uncrewed flight test will push Orion to the limits in the rigors of deep space, helping us prepare for human exploration on the Moon and, ultimately, Mars," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.Īfter reaching its initial orbit, Orion deployed its solar arrays and engineers began performing checkouts of the spacecraft's systems. "What an incredible sight to see NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft launch together for the first time. It's an important test for the agency before flying astronauts on the Artemis II mission. Known as Artemis I, the mission is a critical part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, in which the agency explores for the benefit of humanity. The launch is the first leg of a mission in which Orion is planned to travel approximately 40,000 miles beyond the Moon and return to Earth over the course of 25.5 days.
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