Tag: Artemis
-
Artemis 2 Crew Returns to Earth After Historic Lunar Flyby
What does Artemis 2’s successful return mean for NASA’s lunar program? The Artemis 2 crew capsule successfully completed its atmospheric reentry and Pacific Ocean splashdown off the California coast on April 10, marking the first crewed lunar mission in over five decades. The four-person crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Hammock Koch,…
-
Chinese Falcon 9 Clone Fails as Artemis II Approaches Reentry
What happened to China’s Falcon 9 competitor and Artemis II’s status? China’s attempt to replicate SpaceX’s reusable rocket success hit a major setback this week, with an unspecified failure affecting their Falcon 9-inspired vehicle development program. Meanwhile, NASA’s Artemis Program mission continues smoothly as the four-person crew aboard Orion prepares for the most critical phase…
-
The gravity of their experience hasn’t quite set in for the Artemis II astronauts
On the home stretch of their nine-day mission, the four astronauts flying aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft are just beginning to reflect on their experience of flying beyond the Moon. Their memories of Monday’s encounter with the Moon are still fresh as they return to Earth, heading for reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on…
-
Artemis II returns to Earth after historic 10-day mission around the Moon
After 10 days, over 800,000 km traveled, and a historic flyby of the Moon, Artemis II returned to Earth on Friday evening. Orion CM-003 Integrity, which served as the home for the mission’s four-person crew since April 1, reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean before ultimately splashing down off the coast of San Diego,…
-
Artemis 2’s trip around the moon enters the home stretch — here’s how to watch the splashdown
A view from a camera mounted on one of the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings shows Orion’s engines and thrusters in the foreground, and Earth in the background. (NASA via YouTube) The crew of NASA’s round-the-moon test mission crossed the halfway point between the moon and Earth today on their homeward journey — and they’re…
-
The Moon is already on Google Maps—did Artemis II really tell us anything new?
The data pipeline from NASA’s Artemis II mission opened to full blast a few hours after looping behind the far side of the Moon on Monday night, when the Orion spacecraft established a laser communications link with a receiving station back on Earth. A cache of high-resolution images began streaming down through this connection. NASA…
-
Artemis II closing in on Earth return
After a groundbreaking 10-day mission that carried humans farther from Earth than ever before, the four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II are heading into their final day in space ahead of splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday. The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, will have traveled approximately 700,000 miles…
-
Finally, Artemis delivers some exceptional, high-quality photos of the Moon
NASA’s Artemis II mission, carrying four astronauts on an out-of-this-world journey, flew around the Moon on Monday. The crew members took turns describing the stunning landscape below and captured images of Earth rising behind the Moon, in communications with Mission Control in Houston. What they did not send back in real time, due to a…
-
Earthset and eclipse, oh my! NASA releases magnificent images from Artemis mission’s moon flyby
A crescent Earth sinks behind the moon’s disk in a wide-angle version of the Artemis 2 crew’s “Earthset” picture. (NASA Photo) A day after the Artemis 2 mission’s historic lunar flyby, NASA has released a stunning set of high-resolution images documenting Earthset and Earthrise, a solar eclipse that set the moon aglow, and other views…
-
Astronauts set distance record, revealing the Moon as a place to be explored
After staring at the Moon for almost eight hours Monday, the commander of NASA’s Artemis II mission finally ran out of ways to describe what he was seeing. “No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular, surreal,” said Reid Wiseman,…