• After a 25.5 day trip to the Moon and back, Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
• The spacecraft has been recovered and will be sent back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
• Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin said the spacecraft exceeded expectations.

On Sunday afternoon – or morning depending where in the world you happen to be – the Artemis I mission reached it’s conclusion in the Pacific Ocean.

After travelling over 2.25 million kilometres from Earth to the Moon and back to Earth, the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the ocean west of Baja, California at 09:40 PST.

“The splashdown of the Orion spacecraft – which occurred 50 years to the day of the Apollo 17 Moon landing – is the crowning achievement of Artemis I. From the launch of the world’s most powerful rocket to the exceptional journey around the Moon and back to Earth, this flight test is a major step forward in the Artemis Generation of lunar exploration,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

During the mission, Orion travelled further than any spacecraft designed for humans ever has. In addition, the spacecraft came within 128km of the Moon’s surface.

Re-entry of the spacecraft was an incredibly important test that need to be conducted.

When it hit the Earth’s atmosphere the spacecraft was travelling 40 233km/h. This is thanks to the propulsive powerhouse provided by the European Space Agency. This module was separated from the spacecraft before re-entry. In just 20 minutes the spacecraft slowed to just 32km/h, but it did reach temperatures of 2 760 Celsius while travelling through the atmosphere.

The next phase of the Artemis mission is Artemis II which will see humans riding in the Orion capsule but not landing, that specific event is planned for Artemis III.

When Artemis II will take place is unclear, but Artemis I appears to have been a resounding success.

“With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated that Orion can withstand the extreme conditions of returning through Earth’s atmosphere from lunar velocities,” Artemis I mission manager, Mike Sarafin said in a statement.

According to a press release, NASA will now transport the Orion space capsule back to it’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas where the hatch will be opened and several payloads will be unloaded.

These payloads include biology experiments, the flight kit, a mannequin, and a Snoopy plush that acts as a zero-gravity indicator.

[Image – NASA]