NASA’s Orion spacecraft landed in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja, California after a record-breaking mission, traveling more than 2.2 million kilometers around the Moon and returning safely to Earth, thus completing the test of Artemis I flight.
The splashdown was the final milestone for the Artemis I mission, which began with the successful launch of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket Nov. 16 from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the North American state of Florida .
Over the course of 25.5 days, NASA tested Orion in the harsh environment of deep space before carrying astronauts on the Artemis II mission.
“The landing of the Orion spacecraft, which took place exactly 50 years after the Apollo 17 moon landing, is the greatest achievement of Artemis I. From the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket to the extraordinary journey around the Moon and back to Earth , this test flight is a big step forward in Generation Artemis lunar exploration,” said Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, quoted by the website zap.aeiou.pt.
Through the Artemis missions, NASA will bring the first black woman and person to the moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as the cornerstone for a human journey to Mars.
Text originally published in the printed edition of Expresso das Ilhas nº 1098 of December 14, 2022.
