On Dec. 11, 2022, our uncrewed Orion spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere after completing the 1.4-million-mile, 25.5-day Artemis I mission around the Moon. Orion, which will soon take humans to the Moon, performed a “skip” entry technique, allowing it to splash down with accuracy at a selected site in the Pacific Ocean.
During reentry, the spacecraft endured temperatures about half as hot as the surface of the Sun at about 5,000°F (2,800°C), and slowed from nearly 25,000 mph (40,000 kph) to 16 mph (26 kph) for its 11-parachute-assisted splashdown.
In this video, Orion’s reentry can be seen from an in-cabin camera facing out one of four side windows. The loud sounds that can be heard are firings of the spacecraft’s 12 reaction control thrusters that are steering the capsule as it reenters.
View the full length video here: go.nasa.gov/orionreentry
On Nov. 16, 2022, NASA made history with the launch of our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft – our newest transportation system that will return humans to the Moon. Relive the powerful moment SLS rumbled away from Earth, beginning Orion’s three-week test flight around the Moon, and watch as we document Orion’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, closing the first chapter in America’s next deep space exploration story.
Writer: Danielle Sempsrott Editor: Francisco Martin Producers: John Sackman, Michael Justice & Madison Tuttle Music courtesy of Gothic Storm Music Credit: NASA
The Orion spacecraft is back in Florida after Artemis I, a direct deposit on Mars, and an insightful mission comes to an end. These are a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Capsula Orion a revenit in siguranta pe Pamant. S-a realizat o premiera: capsula a folosit un procedeu de “ricoseu” pentru a reduce viteza. Tot asa cum o piatra aruncata pe suprafata apei ricoseaza in sus, asa si capsula a ricosat odata de atmosfera si apoi a revenit. Este pentru prima data cand acest procedeu (cunoscut de pe vremea Apollo) este folosit pentru o capsula ce va duce astronauti. Se pare ca Apollo nu l-a folosit deoarece puterea de calcul la vremea aceea nu era suficient de mare incat sa dea incredere ca va fi de succes. Azi stam bine cu calculatoarele!
These two mannequins occupy the passenger seats on Artemis I. Their their female-shaped, plastic bodies are filled with over 5600 sensors each to measure the radiation load during their trip around the Moon and back to Earth.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
After the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, the Artemis II mission will have astronauts demonstrate what the Orion spacecraft – powered by a European Service Module – can do on its voyage around the Moon.
Two astronauts will fly on the second Artemis mission and take over controls to show how Orion handles at close-quarter flying. While in Earth orbit the spacecraft will detach from its second stage, fly away, turn around, approach the second stage and then fly away again – all using the European Service Module’s 33 thrusters.
Whereas in the first Artemis mission the second stage fired Orion into its lunar orbit, for the second mission it will be the European Service Module that will give the spacecraft its final push to its voyage around the Moon.
The crew will fly Orion to 8889 km beyond the Moon before completing a lunar flyby and returning to Earth. The mission will take a minimum of eight days and will collect valuable flight test data.
The European Service Module is one of ESA’s many contributions to NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Artemis programme that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Joining @NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the powerful Space Launch System rocket are ten CubeSats that will help prepare for the return of astronauts to our lunar companion. Our deep space antennas, along with the Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK, are tracking six of the small satellites, ensuring they arrive where they need to be, and their data gets back home.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Cameras on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft give us amazing views of our adventure around the Moon. See up close views of the Moon from external cameras as well as the view from inside the capsule.
Orion is the only spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth on Artemis missions to deep space and bringing them back to Earth from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion has a launch abort system to keep astronauts safe if an emergency happens during launch, and a European-built service module that is the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion and keeps astronauts alive with water, oxygen, power, and temperature control, as well as a heat shield that can handle high-speed returns from deep space. SLS is the most powerful rocket in the world and the only rocket capable of launching Orion with astronauts and their supplies on Artemis missions to the Moon.
Orion launched on the SLS rocket from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test of our SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and exploration ground systems for future Artemis missions—which will provide the foundation to send humans to the lunar surface, develop a long-term presence on and around the Moon, and pave the way for humanity to set foot on Mars.
On Dec. 11, our Orion spacecraft returns home to Earth. This live stream from Orion will end prior to splashdown, approximately at the time of crew module separation from the service module. Watch live splashdown coverage: https://youtu.be/xzZPzmMtQA8
This is a live, low-resolution video feed from cameras on NASA’s Orion spacecraft as it accomplishes the Artemis I mission around the Moon and back to Earth. Splashdown is expected on Dec. 11, 2022.
Viewers will see the Artemis logo, or the last frame of good video data, if there is a loss of signal, or if the bandwidth is needed for mission activities. Viewers may see what appears to be a black screen when the vehicle is in darkness. There is no audio.
The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery.
The Earth is seen rising from behind the shadowed surface of the Moon in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft had just successfully executed the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which brought it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.
The Earth is seen setting from the far side of the Moon just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.
NASA’s Artemis I mission lifted off on Nov. 16, 2022, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B. This video includes highlights from the event.
With 8.8 million pounds of thrust, the Space Launch System (SLS), is NASA’s most powerful rocket. It will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond the Moon, 280,000 miles from Earth, farther than any human-rated spacecraft has ever flown.
After 26 days and a total distance of over a million miles, Orion will return home faster and hotter than any spacecraft has before.
The primary goals for Artemis I are to demonstrate Orion’s systems in a spaceflight environment and ensure a safe re-entry, descent, splashdown, and recovery prior to the first flight with crew on Artemis II.
The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will demonstrate our commitment and capability to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard lifted off at 07:47 CET from @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 16 November 2022.
The most powerful rocket ever built sent NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module (ESM) to a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion.
Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to @NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Artemis I mission is almost ready for launch: it will send an uncrewed spacecraft beyond the Moon and back. Join this virtual Q&A to learn more about Europe’s contribution to the mission: ESA is overseeing the development of the European Service Module, that provides air, electricity and propulsion to the spacecraft. Participants to this media briefing include Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General ; David Parker, ESA Director for Human and Robotic Exploration ; Jean-Marc Nasr, @Airbus EVP Space Systems and Marc Steckling, Airbus Head of Space Exploration.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before. This video gives an overview of the first mission – without astronauts – for Artemis, focussing on ESA’s European Service Module that powers the spacecraft.
The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70 000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever travelled, where it will inject itself in a Distant Retrograde Orbit around the Moon.
On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth.
The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
The second Artemis mission will have a simplified flight plan with only a flyby of the Moon but with four astronauts. The third Artemis mission will see astronauts taken to the lunar surface.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to @NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
ESA and NASA are working hand in hand before the first Artemis mission to the Moon through a series of joint mission simulations. Teams based at the Erasmus Support Facility (ESF) at ESA’s ESTEC facility in The Netherlands, the German Space Operations Centre at ESA’s Columbus Control Centre in Oberphfaffenhofen and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are combining their expertise in a series of exercises to ensure a successful launch.
When it comes to simulations, it’s important that not everything goes perfectly right as it recreates – in real time – different stages of the mission to monitor the spacecraft’s position, propulsion, power, avionics and thermal properties. The European team, consisting of 40 people from ESA and industry, apply their considerable expertise from working on the European Service Module (ESM) to any unexpected problems. The ESM will provide power for the Orion spacecraft and propel it along its orbit to the Moon.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
One of the many milestones in the leadup to the launch of Artemis is its rollout: this is when a crawler will carry the SLS rocket with Orion and ESM from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launchpad 39B. @NASA’s John Giles gives us a tour of the crawler and explains the adaptations made to this “wonderful piece of machinery” since it was first built for the Apollo programme in the 1960s. ESA is playing a key role in NASA’s Artemis programme, which will bring astronauts back to the Moon. The European Service Module – or ESM – will provide propulsion, power and thermal control for the Orion spacecraft.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
As always, a new year brings new and exciting missions and launches for ESA. In science the world looks forward to the first image releases of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and the third data release for Gaia, both teaching us more about our galaxy and Universe. ESA’s new Mars rover will be launched with the ExoMars mission, and we will also see the maiden flights of Vega-C, Ariane 6 and the Artemis I flight. Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will return to the ISS for her second mission and a new class of astronauts will be presented to the world. After the groundwork has been laid in 2021 a new Ministerial Council Meeting will gather to look at the future of ESA, and the need for ESA and Europe to accelerate space and integrated space technology into the fabric of our lives.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Orion spacecraft for Artemis I is on the move, critical hardware for Artemis II is delivered, and a new telescope to study our Milky Way … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Producer/Writer: Andre Valentine Editor: Shane Apple Music: Universal Production Music
Time lapse of the stacking of the Orion spacecraft on top of the fully assembled Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on 21 October 2021, in preparation for the uncrewed Artemis I launch.
For Artemis I, the European Service Module will take the spacecraft more than 64 000 km beyond the Moon in a test flight to demonstrate its capabilities.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The European Space Agency is playing a vital role in humankind’s return to the Moon. In a few months @NASA will launch Artemis I from the Kennedy Space Center. The uncrewed mission will carry NASA’s Orion spacecraft incorporating ESA’s European Service Module (ESM-1), built and tested by Airbus Bremen, in Germany, with the help of 10 European nations. ESM-1’s main engine and 32 thrusters will propel Orion into orbit around the Moon and return it to Earth.
As Artemis I prepares for launch, the second European Service Module (ESM-2) is about to ship to the US with ESM-3 also currently under construction. The second Artemis mission, however, has a crucial difference: it will carry four astronauts for a lunar flyby. ESM-2 will provide propulsion, power, oxygen, water and life support as well as controlling the temperature in the orbiting crew module. ESM-3 will go one step further and put the first person on the Moon for 50 years.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
From the @Airbus integration halls in Bremen, Germany, this replay of a live event shows a sneak peek of the two European Service Modules that will power astronauts to the Moon and back as part of @NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
Orion is NASA’s next exploration spacecraft to send astronauts farther into space than ever before, beyond the Moon to asteroids and even Mars.
ESA has contracted and is overseeing the development of the European Service Module, the part of the Orion spacecraft that provides air, electricity and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will power the Orion crew module to its destination and back to Earth.
The programme includes Andreas Hammer, Head of @Airbus Defence and Space Exploration showing the European Service Modules in production, ESA Director General Jan Wörner announcing future developments, a statement by ESA’s head of European Service Module programme Philippe Deloo, a statement by Airbus head of European Service Module programme Didier Radola, a Moon missions overview with ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and ESA’s head of Space Transportation Nico Dettmann on how ESA is building Orion with industry.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
As the world leaves behind the strange and challenging year of 2020, we look towards 2021 with a mixture of relief and expectation. And this is the same at ESA, where we look forward to a brighter and very exciting 2021. This year will see Vega-C making its maiden flight, two ESA astronauts start long-duration missions on board the International Space Station, and BepiColombo and Solar Orbiter continuing their voyages around the Solar System. Also this year, we will say farewell to our current Director General Jan Wörner as his tenure ends, while welcoming into office his successor, Josef Aschbacher.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
2020 has been another year of progress for ESA. The launch and commissioning of Solar Orbiter heralded a new era of space science, whilst Eutelsat Konnect revolutionised telecommunications. The new Vega SSMS began a cost-effective new launch system for small satellites, deploying exciting new technologies such as PhiSat and ESAIL. ESA’s Earth Observation activities were also showcased, with the launch of Sentinel-6 and an international effort to monitor the environmental and economic impact of COVID-19. Gaia and Cheops yielded new findings about our universe; ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano returned successfully from orbit. With a lunar programme agreement signed and new steps being taken to control debris, ESA is set to begin 2021 at the forefront of space exploration.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before. This video gives an overview of the first mission – without astronauts – for Artemis, focussing on ESA’s European Service Module that powers the spacecraft.
The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70 000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever travelled.
On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth. The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
The second Artemis mission will have a similar flight plan but with astronauts. The third Artemis mission will see astronauts taken to the lunar surface.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe and click twice on the bell button to receive our notifications.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The European Space Agency and NASA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to take Europe to the Moon.
This historic agreement will see ESA Member States contribute a number of essential elements to the first human outpost in lunar orbit, known as the Gateway.
It confirms ESA’s commitment to delivering at least two European Service Modules that provide electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen to NASA’s Orion spacecraft – with more to come. ESA will also receive three flight opportunities for European astronauts to travel to and work on the Gateway.
ESA’s head of the Legal Services, Marco Ferrazzani, explains how these agreements will take us forward to the Moon.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Artemis programme is bringing humans back to the Moon. It depends heavily on NASA’s Orion spacecraft that consists of a crew module and the European Service Module, which will provide propulsion, life support, environmental control and electrical power. Main contractor Airbus has just been green-lighted by ESA to develop a third European Service Module.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
The first flight of the Artemis programme, which will see humans return to the Moon, is scheduled to begin soon. The lunar spacecraft consists of NASA’s Orion crew module and the European Service Module, or ESM. Developed by ESA and building on technology from its Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the ESM will provide propulsion, life support, environmental control and electrical power to Orion. The Artemis 1 spacecraft modules are undergoing thermal vacuum and electromagnetic interference tests in the world’s largest space simulation vacuum chamber at the Glenn Research Centre’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, USA.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
The year 2020 will see new and exciting European space missions, from journeys to the Sun and back to Mars, and from innovative telecommunications satellites to the continuing operation of Copernicus Earth observation satellites. The second ExoMars mission will see a European rover on the ‘Red Planet’ and the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter mission will be launched around the Sun. This year marks probably the last time an ESA astronaut flies on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft – future European astronaut flights are likely to be on the new US spacecraft, in particular the NASA Orion vehicles, which feature European-built Service Modules, now being prepared for flights to the Moon and beyond. The year also sees the first flight of ESA’s new Vega-C launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, where Ariane 6 operations are also taking shape for its first flight.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
A new cooling system for a device on the space station, first results from the first spacecraft to touch the Sun, and preparing Orion for some critical testing … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2019_1206_New%20Cooling%20System%20for%20a%20Device%20on%20the%20Space%20Station%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20December%206,%202019
Our Artemis I spacecraft is delivered for some critical testing, a big step for our Commercial Crew program, and a possible connection between dust storms and water loss on Mars … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2019_1129_Orion%20Spacecraft%20Arrives%20in%20Ohio%20for%20Testing%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20November%2029,%202019
At NASA Headquarters on Oct. 15, 2019, Administrator Jim Bridenstine introduced the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) and Orion Crew Survival System suit which will be will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the #Artemis program.
Our Artemis program will return humans to the Moon by 2024. Artemis I, the first Artemis mission, will test all of the human rated systems in deep space — including the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket. This is its 26 day journey… in 30 seconds.
A critical test of the “powerhouse” for our Orion spacecraft, Curiosity is still going strong after seven Earth years on Mars, and Hubble’s new portrait of Jupiter … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2019_0809_Testing%20Orion%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%9CPowerhouse%E2%80%9D%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20-%20August%209,%202019.html
Watch a fully functional launch abort system (LAS) and test Orion spacecraft launch to an altitude of 31,000 feet at Mach 1.15 (more than 1,000 mph)! On July 2, 2019, NASA successfully demonstrated the Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system can outrun a speeding rocket and pull astronauts to safety during an emergency during launch. News release: https://go.nasa.gov/2Xg7mkJ Orion was launched atop a Northrop Grumman provided booster from Launch Pad 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The test is another milestone in the agency’s preparation for Artemis missions to the Moon that will lead to astronaut missions to Mars.
A spacewalk outside the space station, testing a motor critical to the safety of Orion, and some surprising findings about asteroid Bennu … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-A%20Spacewalk%20Outside%20The%20International%20Space%20Station%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20March%2022,%202019.html
50 years after the first human landed on the Moon, what is next? The exploration of our Moon is a global endeavour with Europeans and commercial actors playing a large role. The European Space Agency has developed an exploration programme based on four main missions.
Luna Resurs is a partnership with the Russian agency Roscosmos that will carry European technology to land precisely and safely on the Moon (PILOT) and to extract and analyse samples of the lunar terrain (PROSPECT).
Orion and the European Service Module will return humans to the Moon and take advantage of the new technology for human space transportation. Orion, the NASA spacecraft, will bring humans farther than they have never been before. ESA is providing the service modules that will provide propulsion, life support, power, air and water, and control the temperature in the crew module.
ISRU aims to extract and process resources on the Moon into useful products and services: “In-situ resource utilisation”. A mission to explore lunar resources could be a reality from 2025. The goal is to produce drinkable water or breathable oxygen on the Moon.
The Heracles mission could take of in 2028 to allow us to gain knowledge on human-robotic interaction while landing a spacecraft on the Moon, collecting samples with a rover operated from the lunar Gateway and send samples back to Earth.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
After a 24-hour journey from Bremen, Germany with stops in Hamburg and Portsmouth, USA, the European Service Module landed on 6 November 2018 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The shipment from Bremen to Florida is just the beginning – the first leg of an exciting journey that will boost the spacecraft to lunar orbit and back.
The first service module is a key component that will see #Orion around the Moon for Exploration Mission-1. It will make the powerful burns required to enter and exit lunar orbit as well as softer burns to allow for space manoeuvring and course correction.
After years of designing, building, and testing in Europe, the powerhouse that will propel NASA’s Orion spacecraft to the Moon will be mated with the rest of the spacecraft to undergo final testing before flight.
ESA’s partnership with NASA takes the European effort to the global stage. For the first time, NASA will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft, extending the international cooperation of the International Space Station into deep space.
ESA is Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
