JAKARTA - The Orion spacecraft on the Artemis I mission that visited the Moon, is now preparing to return to Earth.
On the 15th day of the Artemis I mission, the Orion crew decided to leave the Orbit Restant Retrograde (DRO) of the Moon, which has been going on for six days since Friday, November 25.
The crew will start burning today to put Orion on a return path to Earth after reaching a distance of 268,563 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record of 20,000 miles.
Before arriving on Earth, Orion had to fly across the surface next month to swing it back onto Earth, then it would land in the Pacific Ocean on December 11.
Orion on Wednesday, November 30, completed maintenance combustion to maintain its current trajectory and reduce its speed before exiting DRO.
Orion carried out an extra-long 95-second burn of six additional boosters thanks to the European Space Agency (ESA) service module.
According to NASA, longer burning will give him more data to characterize radiation boosters and heating on the wings of the spacecraft's solar array to help inform Orion's operational constraints.
Launching ZDNet, Friday, December 2, since the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with Orion launched last month, NASA has not talked much about ESA's role in the Artemis I mission, but now emphasizing the importance of ESA on Orion, it created a service module to adapt the spacecraft's path.
The ESA service module is equipped with 33 engines and serves as the Orion power plant. Beyond propulsion, it provides power, thermal control, air and water, all important for Artemis II and future missions with human crew.
Also, the Artemis I mission is NASA's first time using a European-made system as an important component of the US spacecraft.
After the Artemis I mission is successful, Artemis 2 will be scheduled for the end of 2024. NASA plans to land astronauts on the Moon on the Artemis 3 mission, making its debut as a commercial lunar lander originating from SpaceX's Starship rocket program.
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