NASA's next-generation astronaut spacecraft returned to Earth after more than a quarter-century of orbiting the Moon. The Orion space spacecraft made a blazing re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on Monday (IST), and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. In subsequent stages, though, parachutes were used to delay the fall. Three huge red and orange parachutes assisted the unmanned capsule as it descended to the water.
As seen on NASA TV, the unmanned capsule sped through Earth's atmosphere at a rate of 25,000 mph (40,000 kph), then descended to the ocean with the aid of three massive red and orange parachutes.
"NASA we had a picture perfect splashdown," said NASA's landing and recovery director Melissa Jones.
Orion travelled more than millions of kilometres on its journey around Earth's satellite and back, making it the furthest habitable spacecraft to ever leave the planet.
Given that this was only a test, there weren't any passengers on board, but that will change for the real thing. Nasa's Orion project is going to be rather involved. A mission to return people to the lunar surface is planned to begin in late 2024. A manned lunar landing with two humans might occur as soon as 2025.
On this day, 50 years ago, the Apollo 17 crew accomplished a major goal for Nasa. Artemis, sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, inspired the name of the new project at the United States Space Agency.
The primary goal for NASA throughout the 25-day mission was to safely return Orion.
The capsule featured a cutting-edge heat shield that had never been tested in spaceflight before, allowing it to return to Earth at a speed of 25,000 mph (40,000 kph) – far quicker than arriving from low-Earth orbit.
It quickly dipped into the atmosphere and skipped out of it to lessen the gravity or G loads, and this manoeuvre also helped to identify the precise location of the splashdown.
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The landing site was more than 300 miles (482 kilometres) south of where it was supposed to be.
As it sped to the moon and into a broad, sweeping orbit for over a week before returning home, Orion racked up 1.4 million miles (2.25 million kilometres).
The spacecraft twice drew within 130 kilometres (80 miles) of the moon. The capsule travelled at least 268,000 miles (430,000 kilometres) from home.
