The Orion spacecraft has been approaching Earth for several days, and so on Sunday a safe landing of the capsule in the waters of the Pacific Ocean is planned. If this step goes smoothly, NASA will be able to announce the complete success of the Artemis 1 mission.
Orion will land on Earth in an unusual way. NASA wants to bounce it off the atmosphere
Landing Orion will be a rather complicated process and one of the most important stages of the entire mission. NASA intends to test a new landing technique on this occasion, the so-called. skip entry (which can be translated as entry jump in the atmosphere). The agency reports that the technique has not yet been used for manned spacecraft (Orion is a manned spacecraft, but flies unmanned on its first attempt).
In the first phase of re-entry, Orion will skim only its upper layers, losing some speed. Then (with the help of maneuvering thrusters) it will bounce off the atmosphere and increase its altitude again. Only on the second, last entry will the ship dive deeper into the gas envelope of our planet. NASA likens this technique to floating ducks on water.
This technique should allow NASA to land in the Pacific much closer to the US coast. In the case of unmanned flights, such accuracy is not of paramount importance, but Artemis 1 is a test for NASA before the next already manned flights, among others. in 2024 and 2025. In case of religion manned ocean landing as close as possible to the rescue ship and the coast is extremely important as it reduces the time needed to reach the astronauts and thus travel to earth.
Three landing scenarios. The Skip Entry technique allows you to significantly extend the area in which the capsule can launch:
Skip landing entrance photo. NASA Johnson Space Center
How and where will the Orion ship land?
Orion is constantly on its way to Earth (slightly more 300 thousand kilometers from our planet. It will arrive on Sunday 11th December. The first stage, just before entering the atmosphere, will be the rejection of the Orion service module, part of which was, among others, the main engine for orbital maneuvers. NASA points out that the flight path of the module was chosen in such a way that it burns completely in the atmosphere.
Upon entering the atmosphere, Orion will begin to decelerate and head towards the fall point. Air resistance alone will slow the capsule to 523 km/h in 10 minutes. Then three small auxiliary parachutes will deploy, reducing the ship’s speed to 209 km/h. At an altitude of 2.9 km above the Earth’s surface, the main nylon parachutes with a diameter of 35 meters each will be deployed, slowing the descent of the spacecraft to 32 km/h.
At this speed, Orion will hit the water surface around 10:00 on Sunday. 7.40pm. It will be launched near the Mexican island of Guadalupe, about 260 km west of the California peninsula and 420 km from the US city of San Diego. This location was chosen last Thursday due to favorable weather forecasts.
The capsule will be recovered from the US Navy vessel USS Portland. Orion floating on water will be attached to the ship’s winch by divers and, after drying, placed on a specially designed platform and hauled ashore. NASA tried the whole process for the last time earlier this week.
If reentry and splashdown go according to plan, NASA will have an open path to the Artemis 2 mission, which will send the first astronauts to orbit the Moon in more than half a century. The Artemis 2 mission is scheduled for May 2024, and the Artemis 3 mission – which aims to land on the Silver Globe – for 2025.
More information about the Artemis 1 mission is available at Gazeta.pl
