Science

Orion Spacecraft Exceeds Performance Expectations

On November 20, 2022, Orion entered the lunar sphere of influence, with lunar gravitational force acting on the spacecraft instead of Earth. Orion continues its trajectory toward the Moon, with additional images captured by the optical navigation camera.

Artemis 1, a mission launched on November 16, sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft toward the moon atop a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The capsule has been completing its first journey beyond Earth orbit and is now half the way to the moon. The solar arrays captured the moon image with a camera mounted on the end of the array.

The umbilical was successfully commanded close each time, and both systems are functioning as required without any mission impacts.

The team is analyzing data for systems during an active flight test to improve mission operations on Artemis I and future missions. Mission managers currently have two active anomaly resolution teams, which focus on specific issues by examining data to understand the implications of a particular system.

There is a separate team for engineers and flight controllers to continue focusing on commanding and monitoring the spacecraft and assessing the progress of the flight test.

What’s happening today?

The capsule will conduct a fourth outbound trajectory correction burn before the outbound powered flyby burn.

Flight controllers will use the orbital maneuvering system engine to accelerate the spacecraft, harness the moon’s gravity, and direct it toward a distant retrograde orbit.

The outbound powered flyby will begin at 6:14 p.m. IST, with Orion’s closest approach to the Moon at 6:27 p.m. IST.

Engineers expect to lose communication with the spacecraft for 34 minutes as it passes behind the Moon. The Goldstone ground station will acquire the spacecraft once it emerges from behind the moon.