NASA’s Artemis II enters ’13 minutes of terror’ as crew plunges through Earth’s atmosphere in radio blackout
Written by: STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY EDITOR and CHRIS MELORE, US DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR
Updated:
As the Orion spacecraft prepares to return to Earth, NASA’s Artemis II crew is just minutes away from the most dangerous phase of its historic Moon mission.
The spacecraft is scheduled to travel through Earth’s atmosphere at 7:53 p.m. ET on Friday, reaching speeds as high as 25,000 miles per hour, and then touch down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, about 13 minutes later.
The four-person crew of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are completing a ten-day mission that will take them around the moon and farther than any human has ever traveled in space before.
This journey marked the first time in more than 50 years since the Apollo era that humans have traveled this far into space and examined the lunar surface with the naked eye.
During the mission, astronauts passed behind the moon, flying over the mysterious far side, often referred to as the dark side of the moon because it is not constantly facing Earth. The historic flight also broke the decades-old distance record set in 1970 during Apollo 13, when astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth.
Artemis II surpassed this milestone by thousands of kilometers, setting a new distance record for human spaceflight.
Breaking:Communications blackout begins as Artemis II crashes into Earth’s atmosphere
The planned six-minute radio outage period began when Artemis II made first contact with the upper atmosphere at 7:53 pm ET.
The Orion crew module, carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, was approximately 400,000 feet above the Earth’s surface.
The crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs on the planned entry route. The communication outage is caused by ‘plasma accumulation’ around the capsule, which occurs as the re-entry temperature increases.
The astronauts transmitted a final image of Earth as heat built up around the craft before entering the planned radio blackout period.
Breaking:Artemis II crew module ejects from spacecraft as splash approaches
Orion’s crew module has successfully separated from the service module, and the final maneuver for Artemis II to safely re-enter Earth’s atmosphere has been completed.
NASA confirmed that Artemis II’s return will proceed with no other changes to the planned landing in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 8:07 PM ET.
NASA warned that the crew module would lose contact with the space agency for six minutes as it entered the atmosphere.
Navy launches rescue teams as Artemis II approaches Earth
Captain Erik Kenny, commander of the US Navy’s USS John P Murtha, announced that he has launched four helicopters to monitor the ship’s splash pad as Artemis II approaches the Earth’s atmosphere.
Murtha set off from the California coast earlier this week for a mission to recover the Orion spacecraft, which lasted less than an hour.
NASA surgeon warns astronauts could get sick on return to Earth
NASA flight surgeon Dr. Rick Scheuring explained that the crew at the landing site was preparing to help four astronauts who may be dealing with severe nausea after re-entering Earth’s much stronger atmosphere.
Scheuring said: ‘The human system is very dynamic. It needs to readapt very quickly. ‘One of the most common reactions they get is stomach awareness, some nausea, some vomiting.’
To assist NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the crew took anti-nausea medications and increased their fluid intake in preparation for the splashdown.
Artemis II crew dons spacesuits as final preparations begin for reentry
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen donned protective spacesuits as the crew began final leak checks before entering Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 7:33 p.m. ET.
All systems are looking ‘great’ for Artemis’ leap
Paul Sierpinski, NASA’s Artemis mission recovery director, said conditions near the splash pad looked great and everything remained on schedule for the Orion spacecraft to return in just over an hour.
What to consider when Artemis II returns to Earth?
NASA has released the official timeline of what will happen during Artemis II’s historic return to Earth:
19.33 ET: Orion’s crew module will separate from the service module, exposing the heat shield for the spacecraft’s return from Earth’s atmosphere, where temperatures will reach up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
19.37 ET: Orion will perform an 18-second crew module lift burn to set the proper entry angle and align the heat shield for impact with the atmosphere.
19.53 ET: Once Orion reaches 400,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, the crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs on its planned entry route. This moment marks the spacecraft’s first contact with the upper atmosphere and initiates a six-minute communications blackout.
20.03 ET: At about 22,000 feet above the surface, parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion approaches the splashdown.
20.04 ET: At approximately 6,000 feet, the first parachutes will be released and the three main parachutes will open, reducing Orion’s speed to less than 136 mph.
20.07 ET: Slowing its speed to 20 miles per hour, Orion will land in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth and their 694,481-mile journey.
Artemis II prepares for reentry after final burn
The Orion spacecraft, which carried four astronauts to Earth, successfully completed its final burn at 2:53 pm ET on Friday afternoon.
The capsule fired its thrusters for eight seconds, changing speeds by 4.2 feet per second and propelling Artemis II onto a course that would take it safely to the Pacific Ocean at approximately 8:07 p.m. ET.
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