This image shows a view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from of the Orion spacecraft's window.The Associated Press
As Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen has described it, going to the moon can be “like throwing a ball up in the air.”
Now that ball has been decisively thrown for NASA’s Artemis II mission, thanks to a 5-minute 50-second engine burn on Thursday evening that pushed the spacecraft from a 24-hour-long high orbit around Earth onto a path that will send it wheeling around the moon a few days from now.
It’s among the most important steps of the Artemis II mission, and it’s the one that will cement the role of its crew – consisting of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Colonel Hansen – as pathfinders for future lunar endeavours.
This image taken from video provided by NASA shows the Earth, left, from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it fired its engines heading toward the moon on Thursday.The Associated Press
NASA confirmed that the manoeuvre it calls the “translunar injection burn” commenced at 7:49 p.m. ET.
“Feels great up here,” Col. Hansen could be heard saying as the burn began. The spacecraft then exhausted nearly half a tonne of fuel, accelerating its outbound speed to about 39,400 kilometres an hour.
The burn is intended to be the largest expenditure of energy by the mission’s Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module, which were lofted into orbit by a two-stage SLS rocket on Wednesday evening.
“With this burn we don’t leave Earth, we choose it,” Ms. Koch said before ignition.
Her words were in reference to the fact that the new course for the capsule ultimately commits it to arriving back at Earth at the end of the crew’s 10-day mission around the moon.
At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, mission controllers were intensely focused on the status of the spacecraft leading up to the critical event, much as they were during the mission’s countdown to launch on Wednesday evening. NASA’s administrator, Jared Isaacman, could also be seen in the control room as Artemis II prepared for its leap to the moon.
Smiles broke out in the control room once the burn was successfully concluded.
Artemis II is now in space. What happens next?
Prior to the burn, the crew was treated to a dramatic view of Earth as the capsule came racing in from its high orbit for a close pass of the planet at an altitude of about 185 kilometres just before the engine ignited. The view from the capsule was streamed live on the internet.
Earlier on Thursday, Col. Hansen made history when the capsule travelled about 70,000 kilometres from Earth at the apogee of its high orbit. Prior to that, no Canadian astronaut had ever been more than a few hundred kilometres above Earth’s surface, which happens during flights to the International Space Station.
A view of from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight, on Thursday. NASA via The Associated PressThe Associated Press
Now Col. Hansen and his crewmates are set to break the record for the farthest that humans have ever ventured when their capsule’s loop around the moon reaches its apex early next week.
The flight is specifically designed to minimize fuel usage, which is why the comparison to a ball thrown in the air is so apt.
If the crew were going to land on the moon, or even park in lunar orbit, they would need to burn more fuel to match up with the moon’s motion in space and then spend fuel again when departing for home.
Artemis II and Iran: Two strikingly different missions define the U.S.
In this case, the burn on Thursday evening is designed to throw the capsule away from Earth at just the right angle such that the combined pull of the moon and Earth together will bring it back on a free return flight with no additional fuel needed.
Along the way, the crew will have a view of the moon’s far side, which is not visible from Earth, and also gather data on a solar eclipse as the moon temporarily blocks the sun from their view. The eclipse opportunity was not a long-planned part of the Artemis II mission, but rather a side effect of the specific launch date.
“They will be able to see the sun’s corona, which is kind of cool,” Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA exploration systems, said during a postlaunch press briefing on Wednesday.
NASA launched four astronauts on the first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century on Artemis II. Canadian crewmember Jeremy Hansen called it a mission for all humanity via radio in the lead up to the launch.
The Globe and Mail
Dr. Glaze added that the crew has been having “a lot of science lessons over the last couple of days to learn about that so they’re prepared to make those solar observations.”
The key objective of the Artemis II mission is to provide the first test of the Orion capsule with people on board. The crew spent much of their first day setting up equipment, checking controls and otherwise acting much like product testers discovering the quirks of a new design.
This included sorting out a problem with the controller on the capsule’s toilet, and also learning that using the onboard exercise wheel has a tendency to generate static electricity.
After their lunar encounter, the crew will be on a return course to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean expected on April 10.
What do you want to know about the Artemis II launch? Submit your questions
This week, three Americans and one Canadian will embark on a trip around the moon before safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean just over nine days later. What do you want to know about the launch, its long preparation time and what they hope to accomplish? Leave your question in the form below, or send an e-mail to audience@globeandmail.com.
The Artemis II mission ran into an early but very human problem after launch when a malfunction in the Orion spacecraft left astronauts working around a jammed toilet fan, NASA said Wednesday
Reuters