NASA’s Artemis I Orion Executes Successful Splashdown

HOUSTON—NASA’s Orion deep-space crew capsule has concluded its 25 1/2 day Artemis I test flight with a successful Dec. 11 splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja, California.

Contact with the water near Guadalupe Island was logged by NASA at 12:40 p.m. EST.

Analysis of the uncrewed capsule and its heat shield’s performance during its 25,000 mph initial plunge into the Earth’s atmosphere was the test flight’s top mission objective.

Bobbing upright in the ocean with the help of five Crew Module Uprighting System helium-filled airbags, the spacecraft was quickly greeted by U.S. Navy and NASA personnel aboard the USS Portland, the recovery vessel that was dispatched from Naval Base San Diego days ahead of the re-entry.  The Portland and its six inflatable small boats were accompanied by three helicopters and other equipment to retrieve the spacecraft following its 1.4 million-mi. journey around the Moon.

“This is an extraordinary day. It’s historic because we are now going back into deep space with a new generation” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who joined NASA’s Mission Control team at Johnson Space Center for the re-entry.

Nelson noted the re-entry occurred on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 17 Moon landing, the sixth and final journey by astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo era.

“We knew we were going back to the Moon just to continue to explore outward into the cosmos. So that is why this is a defining day. It is one that marks new technology, a whole new breed of astronauts , a vision for the future that captures the DNA, particularly that of Americans, though it is an international venture,” Nelson said.

“This has been a phenomenal mission so far. If you asked me to grade it, I’d give it an A plus,” Cathy Koener, NASA’s deputy associate administrator for exploration systems, noted as Orion’s re-entry loomed.

Quickly declared an apparent success, Artemis I represents a major milestone in NASA’s efforts to establish a sustainable human presence at the Moon with international as well as commercial partners to prepare for human expeditions to Mars. Next up is Artemis II, which is currently planned for launch in 2024 and will include a crew of four astronauts on a journey around the Moon and back to Earth aboard Orion to demonstrate the spacecraft’s life support capabilities.

Among those aboard the USS Portland awaiting Orion’s splashdown was veteran NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who emphasized the value of assessing the heatshield’s thermal and structural stresses during the 5,000F re-entry as well as the response of the capsule’s internal environment to its lengthy exposure to the cislunar environment, including solar and cosmic radiation.

“We are starting the process of getting ready for the next mission,” Walker said.

Two days prior to the Artemis I return, NASA announced the finalization of a $3.2 billion contract with Boeing for the continuing production of Space Launch System (SLS) core and upper rocket stages, including the core stages for the Artemis III and IV missions, which are to launch the first and second post-Apollo missions with astronauts assigned to explore the lunar surface.

NASA has not declared an updated target date for the launch of Artemis III, which was once planned prior to the end of 2024, and subsequently no earlier than 2025.

Under the Boeing STS Stages Production and Evolution Contract, NASA also is procuring critical and long-lead core stage elements for the Artemis V and VI missions as well as the upgraded Exploration Upper Stages.

In late October, NASA reached a contract agreement with Lockheed Martin for the production of additional Orion capsules supporting the Artemis VI through VIII crewed lunar missions.

As part of its long term Artemis strategy, NASA intends to lead the assembly of a lunar-orbiting, human-tended, multi module Gateway, with the first components lifting off in late 2024. The Gateway will be followed by an Artemis base camp at the lunar south pole, a region of rugged terrain with subsurface water ice deposits that could be mined to provide life support resources and cryogenic liquid hydrogen and oxygen rocket propellants.

NASA requested $7.48 billion for its Deep Space Exploration Systems budget line for the 2023 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1 without a formal agreement by the U.S. House and Senate on a budget appropriation for any federal agency. The 2023 request includes $2.6 billion for NASA’s Artemis campaign development budget line, an annual total forecast to climb to $4.45 billion by 2027 as the agency strives to achieve its human lunar exploration goals.

Following scrubs on Aug. 29 and Sept. 3 linked to thermal control issues and leaks associated with the loading of hydrogen rocket propellants into the SLS during countdown, the Artemis I mission finally lifted off Nov. 16. Achieving its planned distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the Moon required two major propulsive maneuvers on Nov. 21 and 25 using the European Space Agency-provided service module and its orbital maneuvering and thruster capabilities inherited from the space shuttle era.

On Nov. 28 after a second major propulsive maneuver the spacecraft reached its maximum distance from the Earth of 268,563 mi.—a record for a spacecraft developed for human exploration.

Two more major propulsion maneuvers, the DRO departure burn and lunar return flyby maneuver on Dec.1 and 5, began Orion’s trek home, followed by six trajectory correction maneuvers as the spacecraft approached the Earth.

The voyage neared its planned conclusion with separation of the service module at 12 p.m. EST and Orion’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 ft. at 12:20 p.m. EST while 3,659 mi. from the splashdown zone.

Contact with the atmosphere was followed by the first ever “skip reentry” maneuver for a spacecraft developed for astronauts. After a descent to about 200,000 ft., Orion re-oriented to increase its altitude to 292,000 ft. to ease the structural and thermal forces on the spacecraft as well as the gravity forces that astronauts would experience if they were aboard.

When executed on future missions, the skip re-entry also will provide NASA flight controllers with an opportunity to adjust the splash down zone if required.

Just before entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, Orion used its own propulsion to execute a 16-sec. maneuver to orient the heat shield for descent. A sequence of 11 drogue, pilot and main parachutes began to deploy at 12:36 p.m. EST. 

Descending as planned under three large main parachutes, the Orion capsule splashed down at a velocity of less than 20 mph, just under six miles from the USS Portland, which was waiting just over 100 mi. off the coast of Baja, California.

Recovery forces in small boats approached Orion but held off on contact while waiting for ammonia coolant aboard the capsule to disperse.

Once it was safe to approach, they were to carefully maneuver the Orion into the Portland’s well deck and return to shore. Once offloaded from the vessel at the Naval Base San Diego, the spacecraft is to be transported via road to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a thorough assessment, including  the recovery of data stowed on board.