Entering the atmosphere at more than 30 times the speed of sound, NASA’s Orion spacecraft zipped over the Pacific Ocean on Friday, returning home with four astronauts aboard and safely completing humanity’s first trip to the Moon in nearly 54 years.
The temperature outside the capsule remained around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, as a blanket of plasma covered the Orion spacecraft, which is named integrityand its four long-range passengers, temporarily blocking radio signals to the Moon ship and mission control in Houston. Flying from southwest to northeast, the spacecraft headed toward a splashdown area southwest of San Diego, where a U.S. Navy recovery ship was standing by to await the crew’s return home. Ground teams regained communications with Orion commander Reed Wiseman after a six-minute blackout.
Airborne tracking planes broadcast live video of Orion’s descent back to Mission Control, showing the capsule retracting its parachute cover and deploying a series of chute to stabilize its jump toward the Pacific. Then, three large main chutes, each covering an area of 10,500 square feet, were opened at 8:07 p.m. EDT Friday (00:07 UTC Saturday) to slow Orion.
In just 14 minutes, Orion flew at nearly 25,000 mph, trapping the crew in their seats for two brief periods of approximately 3.9 Gs.
USS John P. Murtha The amphibious transport dock ship dispatched helicopters and small boats to evacuate Wiseman and his Artemis II crewmates: Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Wiseman reported “four green crew members” inside the cockpit of the Orion spacecraft, confirmed to be in good health and high spirits after the splashdown.
Koch exited the capsule first, and joined with the Navy divers on an inflatable raft, or “front porch”, assembled next to the spacecraft. Glover was next, then Hansen, a Canadian astronaut, emerged from Orion onto the front porch. The ship’s captain, Wiseman, was the last to leave his seat and join the recovery team. Two helicopters were expected to pick up the astronauts from the ocean and transport them John P. MurthaWhere they were to undergo medical examinations before traveling to San Diego, then fly back to Houston to reunite with their families on Saturday.
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