HOUSTON (Michigan News Source) – On Sunday, NASA welcomed its Orion capsule back to earth after spending nearly a month in space and testing new technology for the next manned lunar landing.  

This landmark landing completes the first phase of the newly revamped Apollo program which is now the Artemis for the next generation of astronauts. Orion’s landing also signals the completion of the Artemis I flight which took off on Nov. 16.  The $4 billion test flight, piloted by test dummies, was hailed as an overall success by NASA.  

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“Orion has returned from the Moon and is safely back on planet Earth,” Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin said, “With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated that Orion can withstand the extreme conditions of returning through Earth’s atmosphere from lunar velocities.”

Even before returning to earth, the Orion spacecraft was surpassing records.  According to NASA, it stayed in space longer than any spacecraft designed for astronauts without docking to a space station, and traveled further than the previously held distance by a spacecraft designed for humans.  It traveled 1.4 million miles from earth, then within 80 miles of the moon, before entering into an orbit for nearly a week before hurtling back to earth.  The journey is also historic as it calls back to the landing of the Apollo 17 mission. 

“The splashdown of the Orion spacecraft – which occurred 50 years to the day of the Apollo 17 Moon landing – is the crowning achievement of Artemis I. From the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket to the exceptional journey around the Moon and back to Earth, this flight test is a major step forward in the Artemis Generation of lunar exploration,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “It wouldn’t be possible without the incredible NASA team. For years, thousands of individuals have poured themselves into this mission, which is inspiring the world to work together to reach untouched cosmic shores. Today is a huge win for NASA, the United States, our international partners, and all of humanity.”

Orion’s next generation heatshield – never before used – was put to the test as it sustained temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit and tremendous deceleration from 25,000 mph to roughly 20 mph before the parachute assisted splashdown.  NASA’s coverage of the return can be found here. 

After further inspections of the spacecraft, NASA will announce the first lunar crew out of 42 active U.S. astronauts stationed at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.  NASA has claimed that through the Artemis missions, the first woman and first person of color will land on the surface of the moon.  

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