NASA confirms ‘partial loss of comms’ with astronauts during Artemis 2 | Science | News
Jared Isaacman (Image: Getty)
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman admitted that there was a brief moment of anxiety during the Artemis 2 Moon launch.
Speaking at a press conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, he confirmed that there was a “partial loss of communication” approximately 51 minutes into the flight.
He said: “The rocket lifted off from the ground with 8.8 million pounds of thrust, carrying the Orion spacecraft and the Artemis II crew into Earth orbit and launching America’s great return to the moon.
“Approximately 51 minutes into the flight, during a planned handover between satellites, the Orion spacecraft experienced a communications issue, resulting in a temporary partial loss of communications.
“The connection from the CapCom to the crew was audible to the crew but for a short period of time we were unable to hear the responses.
“There were no problems with the vehicle itself. Communication with the crew was restored. We are actively working on the issue and will keep you informed.”
“The Orion spacecraft has successfully separated from the core stage and the solar arrays have been deployed as planned. Soon, the crew will perform the apogee boost burn, placing the spacecraft in a geostationary high Earth orbit as we prepare for translunar injection and travel into cis-lunar space.”
NASA’s first manned Moon mission in more than 50 years will take astronauts deeper into space than any human has gone before.
The 322-metre rocket, carrying four crew members, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 18.36 local time (23.36 BST).
The four astronauts reached orbit before circling the Earth for approximately 25 hours before launching towards the moon.
Five minutes into the flight, Commander Reid Wiseman said: “We’re having a great moonrise, we’re heading right for it.”
The elite team had entered the capsule a few hours earlier, where it would have the size of a small caravan for the next 10 days.
More than 700,000 gallons of fuel (2.6 million liters) were loaded into the spacecraft before boarding.
As they moved toward the launch pad, three Americans and a Canadian waved to well-wishers and shaped their hands into hearts.
Commander Reid Wiseman shouted to the crowd: “This is a great day for us. This is a great day for this team.”
The so-called flyby around the Moon will send the crew into space approximately 252,000 miles (406,000 kilometers) before returning to Earth.
The current record for the farthest space flight is approximately 248,000 miles, held by members of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, which was affected by technical problems in 1970.
