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Artemis 1, officially Artemis I and formerly Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), was an uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission. As the first major spaceflight of
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
's Artemis program, Artemis 1 marked the return of the agency to lunar exploration originally begun as the Apollo program decades earlier. It was the first integrated flight test of the
Orion spacecraft Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed ...
and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Its main objective was to test the Orion spacecraft, especially its
heat shield In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
, in preparation for subsequent Artemis missions. These missions seek to reestablish a human presence on the Moon and demonstrate technologies and business approaches needed for future scientific studies, including exploration of Mars. The Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1 was
stacked ''Stacked'' is an American television sitcom that aired on Fox from April 13, 2005 to January 11, 2006. Premise ''Stacked'' was described as the opposite of ''Cheers'', instead of a smart person in a "dumb" place, it is based on the concept of a ...
on October 20, 2021, marking the first time a super-heavy-lift vehicle has been stacked inside NASA's
Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and th ...
(VAB) since the final
Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...
in 1973. On August 17, 2022, the fully stacked vehicle was rolled out for launch after a series of delays caused by difficulties in pre-flight testing. The first two launch attempts were canceled due to a faulty engine temperature reading on August 29, 2022, and a hydrogen leak during fueling on September 3, 2022. Artemis 1 was successfully launched from
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
on November 16, 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC (01:47:44 EST). The SLS rocket launched from
Launch Complex 39B Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) is the second of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39A, was first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle, w ...
at the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
with the
Orion spacecraft Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed ...
aboard for a planned 25-day space mission. After quickly reaching
Earth orbit Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes  days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth ...
, the upper stage separated and performed a
trans-lunar injection A trans-lunar injection (TLI) is a propulsive maneuver used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory that will cause it to arrive at the Moon. History The first space probe to attempt TLI was the Soviet Union's Luna 1 on January 2, 1959 which wa ...
(burn to the Moon) before deploying ten CubeSat satellites. The Orion spacecraft completed one flyby of the Moon on November 21, entered a
distant retrograde orbit A distant retrograde orbit (DRO), as most commonly conceived, is a spacecraft orbit around a moon>M2>>M3. So DRO is a general three-body problem solution. It's just that most practical near-term uses for the concept at three-body problems in our S ...
for six days and completed a second flyby of the Moon on November 25. The Orion spacecraft then returned and reentered the Earth's atmosphere with the protection of its heat shield, successfully splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on December 11. The mission aims to certify Orion and the Space Launch System for crewed flights beginning with
Artemis 2 Artemis 2 (officially Artemis II) is the second scheduled mission of NASA's Artemis program, and the first scheduled crewed mission of NASA's Orion spacecraft, currently planned to be launched by the Space Launch System (SLS) in May 2024. The c ...
, which is scheduled to perform a crewed lunar flyby in 2024. After Artemis 2,
Artemis 3 Artemis 3 (officially Artemis III) is planned as the first crewed Moon landing mission of the Artemis program and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander. Scheduled for launch in 2025, Artemis 3 is planned to be the second crewed Ar ...
will involve a crewed lunar landing five decades after the
Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
, the last crewed lunar mission.


Mission profile

Artemis 1 was launched on the Block 1 variant of the
Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
. The Block 1 vehicle consists of a core stage, two five-segment
solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a large solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and space shuttle, have used SRBs to give ...
s (SRBs) and an upper stage. The core stage uses four RS-25D engines, all of which have previously flown on
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
missions. The core and boosters together produce , or about 4,000 metric tons of thrust at liftoff. The upper stage, known as the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS), is based on the
Delta Cryogenic Second Stage The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) is a family of cryogenic rocket stages used on the Delta III and Delta IV rockets, and on the Space Launch System Block 1. The stage consists of a cylindrical liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank structurally separate ...
and is powered by a single RL10B-2 engine on the Artemis 1 mission. Once in orbit, the ICPS fired its engine to perform a
trans-lunar injection A trans-lunar injection (TLI) is a propulsive maneuver used to set a spacecraft on a trajectory that will cause it to arrive at the Moon. History The first space probe to attempt TLI was the Soviet Union's Luna 1 on January 2, 1959 which wa ...
(TLI) burn, which placed the Orion spacecraft and ten CubeSats on a trajectory to the Moon. Orion then separated from the ICPS and continued its coast into lunar space. Following Orion separation, the ICPS Stage Adapter deployed ten CubeSats for conducting scientific research and performing technology demonstrations. The Orion spacecraft spent approximately three weeks in space, including six days in a
distant retrograde orbit A distant retrograde orbit (DRO), as most commonly conceived, is a spacecraft orbit around a moon>M2>>M3. So DRO is a general three-body problem solution. It's just that most practical near-term uses for the concept at three-body problems in our S ...
(DRO) around the Moon. It came within approximately of the lunar surface (closest approach) and achieved a maximum distance from Earth of .


Mission profile animation


Background

Artemis 1 was outlined by NASA as Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) in 2012, at which point it was set to launch in 2017 as the first planned flight of the
Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
and the second uncrewed test flight of the
Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed Martin and the Euro ...
. The initial plans for EM-1 called for a circumlunar trajectory during a seven-day mission. In January 2013, it was announced that the Orion spacecraft's service module was to be built by the
European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
and named the European Service Module. In mid-November 2014, construction of the SLS core stage began at NASA's
Michoud Assembly Facility The Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an manufacturing complex owned by NASA in New Orleans East, a district within New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. Organizationally it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and is currentl ...
(MAF). In January 2015, NASA and
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
announced that the primary structure in the Orion spacecraft used on Artemis 1 would be up to 25% lighter compared to the previous one (EFT-1). This would be achieved by reducing the number of cone panels from six (EFT-1) to three (EM-1), reducing the total number of welds from 19 to 7 and saving the additional mass of the weld material. Other savings would be due to revising its various components and wiring. For Artemis 1, the Orion spacecraft was to be outfitted with a complete
life support system A life-support system is the combination of equipment that allows survival in an environment or situation that would not support that life in its absence. It is generally applied to systems supporting human life in situations where the outsid ...
and crew seats but would be left uncrewed. In February 2017, NASA began investigating the feasibility of a crewed launch as the first SLS flight. It would have had a crew of two astronauts and the flight time would have been shorter than the uncrewed version. However, after a months-long feasibility study, NASA rejected the proposal, citing cost as the primary issue, and continued with the plan to fly the first SLS mission uncrewed. In March 2019, then-NASA administrator
Jim Bridenstine James Frederick Bridenstine (born June 15, 1975) is an American military officer and politician who served as the 13th administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Bridenstine was the United States representative fo ...
proposed moving the Orion spacecraft from SLS to commercial rockets, either the Falcon Heavy or Delta IV Heavy, to comply with the schedule. The mission would require two launches: one to place the
Orion spacecraft Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed ...
into orbit around the Earth, and a second carrying an upper stage. The two would then dock while in Earth orbit, and the upper stage would ignite to send Orion to the Moon. The idea was eventually scrapped. One challenge with this option would be carrying out that docking, as Orion is not planned to carry a docking mechanism until
Artemis 3 Artemis 3 (officially Artemis III) is planned as the first crewed Moon landing mission of the Artemis program and the first crewed flight of the Starship HLS lander. Scheduled for launch in 2025, Artemis 3 is planned to be the second crewed Ar ...
. The concept was shelved in mid-2019, due to another study's conclusion that it would further delay the mission.


Ground testing

The core stage for Artemis 1, built at
Michoud Assembly Facility The Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) is an manufacturing complex owned by NASA in New Orleans East, a district within New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States. Organizationally it is part of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, and is currentl ...
by Boeing, had all four engines attached in November 2019 and was declared finished one month later. The core stage left the facility to undergo the Green Run test series at
Stennis Space Center The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. , it is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility. T ...
, consisting of eight tests of increasing complexity: #
Modal testing Modal testing is the form of vibration testing of an object whereby the natural (modal) frequencies, modal masses, modal damping ratios and mode shapes of the object under test are determined. A modal test consists of an acquisition phase and a ...
(vibration tests) #
Avionics Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...
(electronic systems) # Fail-safe systems #
Propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...
(without firing of the engines) # Thrust vector control system (moving and rotating engines) #
Launch countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
simulation # Wet dress rehearsal, with
propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...
# Static fire of the engines for eight minutes The first test was performed in January 2020, and subsequent Green Run tests proceeded without issue. On January 16, 2021, a year later, the eighth and final test was performed, but the engines shut down after running for one minute. This was caused by pressure in the hydraulic system used for the engines' thrust vector control system dropping below the limits set for the test. However, the limits were conservative – if such an anomaly occurred in launch, the rocket would still fly normally. The static fire test was performed again on March 18, 2021, this time achieving a full-duration eight-minute burn. The core subsequently departed the
Stennis Space Center The John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) is a NASA rocket testing facility in Hancock County, Mississippi, United States, on the banks of the Pearl River at the Mississippi–Louisiana border. , it is NASA's largest rocket engine test facility. T ...
on April 24, 2021, on route to the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
.


Assembly

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage was the first part of the SLS to be delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in July 2017. Three years later, all of the SLS's
solid rocket booster A solid rocket booster (SRB) is a large solid propellant motor used to provide thrust in spacecraft launches from initial launch through the first ascent. Many launch vehicles, including the Atlas V, SLS and space shuttle, have used SRBs to give ...
segments were shipped by train to the Kennedy Space Center on June 12, 2020, and the SLS launch vehicle stage adapter (LVSA) was delivered by
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
one month later on July 29, 2020. The assembly of the SLS took place at the
Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and th ...
's High Bay 3, beginning with the placement of the two bottom solid rocket booster segments on November 23, 2020. Assembly of the boosters was temporarily paused due to the core stage Green Run test delays before being resumed on January 7, 2021, and the boosters'
stacking Stacking may refer to: Arts and media * ''Stacking'' (video game), a 2011 game from Double Fine * ''Stacking'', a 1987 TV movie directed and produced by Martin Rosen * Stacking, a technique in broadcast programming Language * Consonant stacki ...
was completed by March 2, 2021. The SLS core stage for the mission, CS-1, arrived at the launch site on the Pegasus barge on April 27, 2021, after the successful conclusion of Green Run tests. It was moved to the VAB low bay for refurbishment and stacking preparations on April 29, 2021. The stage was then stacked with its boosters on June 12, 2021. The stage adapter was stacked on the Core Stage on June 22, 2021. The ICPS upper stage was stacked on July 6, 2021. Following the completion of umbilical retract testing and integrated modal testing, the Orion stage adapter with ten secondary payloads was stacked atop the upper stage on October 8, 2021. The Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft began fueling and pre-launch servicing in the
Multi-Payload Processing Facility The Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) is a facility at Kennedy Space Center constructed by NASA in either 1994 or 1995 and used for spacecraft and payload processing. Prior to being assigned the role of processing the Orion spacecraft, th ...
on January 16, 2021, following a handover to NASA Exploration Ground Systems (EGS). On October 20, 2021, the Orion spacecraft, encapsulated under the launch abort system and aerodynamic cover, was rolled over to the VAB and stacked atop the SLS rocket, finishing the stacking of the Artemis 1 vehicle in High Bay 3. During a period of extensive integrated testing and checkouts, one of the four RS-25 engine controllers failed, requiring a replacement and delaying the first rollout of the rocket.


Launch preparations

On March 17, 2022, Artemis 1 rolled out of High Bay 3 from the
Vehicle Assembly Building The Vehicle Assembly Building (originally the Vertical Assembly Building), or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and th ...
for the first time to perform a pre-launch wet dress rehearsal (WDR). The initial WDR attempt, on April 3, was scrubbed due to a mobile launcher pressurization problem. A second attempt to complete the test was scrubbed on April 4, after problems with supplying gaseous nitrogen to the launch complex, liquid oxygen temperatures, and a vent valve stuck in a closed position. During preparations for a third attempt, a
helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
check valve A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction. Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have t ...
on the ICPS upper stage was kept in a semi-open position by a small piece of rubber originating from one of the mobile launcher's umbilical arms, forcing test conductors to delay fueling the stage until the valve could be replaced in the VAB. The third attempt to finish the test did not include fueling the upper stage. The rocket's liquid oxygen tank started loading successfully. However, during the loading of liquid hydrogen on the core stage, a leak was discovered on the tail service mast umbilical plate, located on the mobile launcher at the base of the rocket, forcing another early end to the test. NASA elected to roll the vehicle back to the VAB to repair the hydrogen leak and the ICPS helium check valve while upgrading the nitrogen supply at LC-39B after prolonged outages on the three previous wet dress rehearsals. Artemis 1 was rolled back to the VAB on April 26. After the repairs and upgrades were complete the Artemis 1 vehicle rolled out to LC-39B for a second time on June 6 to complete the test. During the fourth wet dress rehearsal attempt on June 20, the rocket was fully loaded with propellant on both stages. Still, due to a hydrogen leak on the quick-disconnect connection of the tail service mast umbilical, the countdown could not reach the planned T-9.3 seconds mark and was stopped automatically at T-29 seconds. NASA mission managers soon determined they had completed almost all planned test objectives and declared the WDR campaign complete. On July 2, the Artemis 1 stack was rolled back to the VAB for final launch preparations and to fix the hydrogen leak on the quick disconnect ahead of a launch targeted in two launch windows: August 29 and September 5. The SLS passed flight readiness review on August 23, checking out five days before the first launch opportunity.


Initial launch attempts

Fueling was scheduled to commence just after midnight on August 29, 2022, but was delayed an hour due to offshore storms, only beginning at 1:13 am EDT. Before the planned launch at 8:33 am, Engine 3 of the rocket's four engines was observed to be above the maximum allowable temperature limit for launch. Other technical difficulties involved an eleven-minute communications delay between the spacecraft and ground control, a fuel leak, and a crack on the insulating foam of the connection joints between the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks. NASA scrubbed the launch after an unplanned hold and the two-hour
launch window In the context of spaceflight, launch period is the collection of days and launch window is the time period on a given day during which a particular rocket must be launched in order to reach its intended target. If the rocket is not launched wit ...
expired. An investigation revealed that a sensor not used to determine launch readiness was faulty, and displayed an erroneously high temperature for Engine 3. Following the first attempt, a second launch attempt was scheduled for the afternoon of September 3. The launch window would have opened at 2:17 pm EDT (18:17 UTC), and lasted for two hours. The launch was scrubbed at 11:17 am EDT due to a fuel supply line leak in a service arm connecting to the engine section. The cause of the leak was uncertain. Mission operators investigated whether an overpressurization of the liquid hydrogen line of the quick-disconnect interface during the launch attempt may have damaged a seal, allowing hydrogen to escape. Launch operators decided on the date for the next launch attempt; the earliest possible opportunity was September 19 until mission managers declared that September 27, and then September 30, would be the absolute earliest date, NASA having successfully repaired the leak. A launch in September would have required that the Eastern Range of the
United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force. Along with its sister branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space ...
agree to an extension on certification of the rocket's flight termination system, which destroys the rocket should it move off-course and towards a populated area; this was carried out on September 22. However, unfavorable forecasts of the trajectory of then- Tropical Storm Ian led launch managers to call off the September 27 launch attempt and begin preparations for the stack's rollback to the VAB. On the morning of September 26, the decision was made to roll back later that evening. On November 12, following another delay due to Hurricane Nicole, NASA launch managers decided to request launch opportunities for November 16 and 19. They initially requested an opportunity for the 14th but were prevented by then-Tropical Storm Nicole. As the storm approached, NASA decided to leave the rocket at the launch pad, citing a low probability that wind speeds would exceed the rocket's design limits. Wind speeds were expected to reach , with gusts up to . Nicole made landfall as a category one hurricane on November 9, with sustained wind speeds at Kennedy Space Center reaching , and gusts up to , exceeding the rocket's design specifications. After the storm cleared, NASA inspected the rocket for physical damage and conducted electronic health checks. On November 15, the mission management team gave a "go" to begin fully preparing for launch, and the main tanking procedures began at 3:30 pm EST (20:30 UTC).


Flight


Launch

At 6:47:44 UTC (1:47:44 am EST) on November 16, 2022, Artemis 1 successfully launched from
Launch Complex 39B Launch Complex 39B (LC-39B) is the second of Launch Complex 39's three launch pads, located at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The pad, along with Launch Complex 39A, was first designed for the Saturn V launch vehicle, w ...
at the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
. Artemis 1 was the first launch from LC-39B since
Ares I-X Ares I-X was the first-stage prototype and design concept demonstrator of Ares I, a launch system for human spaceflight developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ares I-X was successfully launched on October 28, 200 ...
. The
Orion spacecraft Orion (officially Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV) is a Reusable spacecraft, partially reusable crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program. The spacecraft consists of a Crew Module (CM) space capsule designed by Lockheed ...
and ICPS were both placed into a nominal orbit after separating from the
Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
, achieving orbit approximately 8 minutes after launch.


Outbound flight

Eighty-nine minutes after liftoff, the ICPS fired for approximately eighteen minutes in a trans-lunar injection (TLI) maneuver. Orion then separated from the expended stage and fired its auxiliary thrusters to move safely away as it started its journey to the Moon. The 10 CubeSat secondary payloads were then deployed from the Orion Stage Adapter, attached to the ICPS. The ICPS conducted a final maneuver at three and a half hours after launch to dispose itself into a
heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
. On November 20, 2022, at 19:09 UTC, the Orion spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence, where the influence of the Moon's gravity on the spacecraft is greater than that of Earth.


Lunar orbit

On November 21, 2022, Orion lost communication with NASA as it passed behind the Moon from 12:25 through 12:59 UTC. There, during an automatically controlled maneuver, the first of several trajectory-altering burns, called an "outbound powered flyby burn", to transition Orion to a
distant retrograde orbit A distant retrograde orbit (DRO), as most commonly conceived, is a spacecraft orbit around a moon>M2>>M3. So DRO is a general three-body problem solution. It's just that most practical near-term uses for the concept at three-body problems in our S ...
began at 12:44 UTC. The orbital maneuvering system engine fired for two minutes and thirty seconds. While operating autonomously, Orion made its closest lunar approach of approximately above the surface at 12:57 UTC. The spacecraft performed another burn on November 25, firing the orbital maneuvering system (OMS) for one minute and twenty-eight seconds, changing Orion's velocity by finally entering orbit. On November 26, at 13:42 UTC, Orion broke the record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by an Earth-returning human-rated spacecraft. The record was formerly held by the
Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...
mission at . On November 28, 2022, Orion reached a distance of from Earth, the maximum distance achieved during the mission. On November 30, 2022, the Orion spacecraft performed a maintenance burn to maintain its trajectory and decrease its velocity for a planned burn on December 1, at 21:53 UTC, to depart its distant retrograde orbit around the Moon, beginning its journey back to Earth. On December 5, 2022, at 16:43 UTC the spacecraft reached from the lunar surface at its closest approach right before an earthbound burn, the "powered return flyby burn", to leave the zone of lunar gravitational influence. The spacecraft once again passed behind the Moon, losing communications with mission control for about half an hour. Shortly before the flyby, Orion experienced an electrical anomaly, which was soon resolved.


Return flight

On December 6, 2022, at 7:29 UTC, Orion exited the lunar sphere of influence. It then conducted a minor course correction burn and an inspection of the crew module's thermal protection system and the ESM. Over the next few days the mission control team continued to conduct system checks and prepared for reentry and splashdown. On December 10, 2022 mission planners announced that the final landing site would be near Guadalupe Island off the Baja peninsula in Mexico. The final trajectory correction burn of six total trajectory burns throughout the mission took place the next day five hours before reentry.


Reentry and splashdown

The spacecraft separated from its service module at around 17:00 UTC on December 11, 2022 and then reentered Earth's atmosphere at 17:20 UTC travelling near . It was the first United States use of a "skip entry", a form of non-ballistic atmospheric entry into the atmosphere, pioneered by
Zond 7 Zond 7, a formal member of the Soviet Zond program and unmanned version of Soyuz 7K-L1 manned Moon-flyby spacecraft, the first truly successful test of L1, was launched towards the Moon on a Proton-K D rocket on August 7, 1969, on a mission ...
, in which two phases of deceleration would expose human occupants to relatively less intense G-forces than would be experienced during an Apollo-style reentry. Splashdown of the Orion capsule occurred at 17:40 UTC (9:40 am PST) west of Baja California near
Guadalupe Island Guadalupe Island ( es, Isla Guadalupe, link=no) is a volcanic island located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and about southwest of the city of Ensenada in the state of Baja California, in the Pacific Ocean. The ...
. Following splashdown, NASA personnel and the crew of recovered the spacecraft after planned ocean testing of the capsule. The recovery team spent about two hours performing tests in open water and imaging the craft, namely to investigate signs of atmospheric re-entry, then used a winch and several tending lines to pull the craft into a securing assembly in the
well dock A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
of the USS ''Portland''. The recovery team included personnel from the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
,
Space Force A space force is a military branch of a nation's armed forces that conducts military operations in outer space and space warfare. The world's first space force was the Russian Space Forces, established in 1992 as an independent military service. ...
,
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
,
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...
, and Lockheed Martin Space. On December 13, the Orion capsule arrived at the Port of San Diego.


Payloads

The Orion spacecraft carried three astronaut-like mannequins equipped with sensors to provide data on what crew members may experience during a trip to the Moon. The first mannequin, called "Captain Moonikin Campos" (named after Arturo Campos, a NASA engineer during the Apollo program), occupied the commander's seat inside Orion and is equipped with two radiation sensors in his Orion Crew Survival System suit, which astronauts will wear during launch, entry, and other dynamic phases of their missions. The commander's seat also has sensors to record acceleration and vibration data during the mission. Alongside Moonikin are two phantom torsos: Helga and Zohar, who took part in the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment (MARE), in which NASA, together with the German Aerospace Center and the Israel Space Agency, measured the radiation exposure during the mission. Zohar was shielded with the Astrorad radiation vest and equipped with sensors to determine radiation risks. Helga did not wear a vest. The phantoms measured the radiation exposure of body location, with both passive and active
dosimeter A radiation dosimeter is a device that measures dose uptake of external ionizing radiation. It is worn by the person being monitored when used as a personal dosimeter, and is a record of the radiation dose received. Modern electronic personal dos ...
s distributed at sensitive and high
stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
-concentration tissues. The test provided data on radiation levels during missions to the Moon while testing the effectiveness of the vest. In addition to the three mannequins, Orion carried a plush doll of NASA's
Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recog ...
and a Shaun the Sheep toy representing the
ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...
's European Service Module contribution to the mission. Besides these functional payloads, Artemis 1 also carried commemorative stickers, patches, seeds, and flags from contractors and space agencies worldwide. A technology demonstration called Callisto, named after the mythical figure associated with Artemis, developed by Lockheed Martin in collaboration with
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
and
Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
, was also in flight aboard Orion on Artemis 1. Callisto used video conferencing software to transmit audio and video from mission control and used the Alexa virtual assistant to respond to the audio messages. In addition, the public could submit messages to be displayed on Callisto during the Artemis 1 mission.


Cubesats

Ten low-cost CubeSats, all in six-unit configurations, flew as secondary payloads. They were carried within the Stage Adapter above the second stage. Two were selected through NASA's
Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) is a NASA program using a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human space flight missi ...
, three through the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, two through the
Science Mission Directorate The Science Mission Directorate (SMD) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engages the United States’ science community, sponsors scientific research, and develops and deploys satellites and probes in collaboration with NAS ...
, and three from submissions by NASA's international partners. These CubeSats are: *
ArgoMoon ''ArgoMoon'' is a CubeSat that was launched into a heliocentric orbit on Artemis 1, the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, on 16 November 2022 at 06:47:44 UTC. The objective of the ArgoMoon spacecraft is to take detailed images of the I ...
, designed by
Argotec Argotec is an aerospace engineering company based in Turin whose research, innovation and product development activities use engineering and computing for space applications and renewable energy systems. Particular attention is also given to the ...
and coordinated by the
Italian Space Agency The Italian Space Agency ( it, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana; ASI) is a government agency established in 1988 to fund, regulate and coordinate space exploration activities in Italy. The agency cooperates with numerous national and international entit ...
, is designed to image the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. * BioSentinel contains
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...
cards that will be rehydrated in space, designed to detect, measure, and compare the effects of deep space radiation. *
CubeSat for Solar Particles CubeSat for Solar Particles (CuSP) was a low-cost 6U CubeSat to orbit the Sun to study the dynamic particles and magnetic fields. The principal investigator for CuSP is Mihir Desai, at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, T ...
, designed by the
Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
, will orbit the Sun in
interplanetary space Interplanetary may refer to: *Interplanetary space, the space between the planets of the Solar System *Interplanetary spaceflight, travel between planets *The interplanetary medium, the material that exists in interplanetary space *The InterPlanet ...
and study its particles and magnetic fields. * EQUULEUS, designed by Japan's
JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
and the University of Tokyo, will image the Earth's
plasmasphere The plasmasphere, or inner magnetosphere, is a region of the Earth's magnetosphere consisting of low-energy (cool) plasma. It is located above the ionosphere. The outer boundary of the plasmasphere is known as the plasmapause, which is defined by ...
, impact craters on the Moon's far side, and small trajectory maneuvers near the Moon. *
Lunar IceCube Lunar IceCube is a NASA nanosatellite orbiter mission to prospect, locate, and estimate amount and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation by robots or humans. It was launched as a secondary payload mission on Ar ...
, a lunar orbiter designed by Morehead State University, will use its infrared spectrometer to detect water and organic compounds in the lunar surface and
exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densit ...
. *
Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper, or LunaH-Map, is one of 10 CubeSats launched with Artemis 1 on 16 November 2022. Along with Lunar IceCube and LunIR, LunaH-Map will help investigate the possible presence of water-ice on the Moon. Arizona State Un ...
("LunaH-Map"), selected by the NASA SIMPLEx program,NASA
Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration Program Abstracts of selected proposals
August 8, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
a lunar orbiter designed by
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
, will search for evidence of lunar water ice inside
permanently shadowed crater A permanently shadowed crater is a depression on a body in the Solar System within which lies a point that is always in darkness. As of 2019, there are 324 known permanently shadowed regions on the Moon. Such regions also exist on Mercury and Ce ...
s using its neutron detector. * Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, designed by NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
, is a
solar sail Solar sails (also known as light sails and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large mirrors. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been p ...
that will flyby a
near-Earth asteroid A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
. *
OMOTENASHI is a Japanese expression that roughly describes concepts of hospitality as well as mindfulness. The term developed particularly around the roles of the host at a Japanese tea ceremony. The term gained increased awareness internationally through ...
, designed by
JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
, a lunar probe which would have attempted to land using solid rocket motors, but failed to function properly. *
LunIR LunIR is a nanosatellite spacecraft launched to the Moon collecting surface spectroscopy and thermography. It was launched as a secondary payload on the Artemis 1 mission on 16 November 2022. Mission LunIR is a technology demonstration missi ...
, designed by Lockheed Martin, is to fly by the Moon and collect its surface
thermography Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video and/or thermal imaging, is a process where a Thermographic camera, thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are ...
. * Team Miles, designed by Fluid and Reason LLC, will demonstrate low-thrust plasma propulsion in deep space. Another three CubeSats were originally planned to launch on Artemis 1 but missed the integration deadline, and will have to find alternative flights to the Moon. The stage adapter contains thirteen CubeSat deployers in total. * Cislunar Explorers would demonstrate the viability of water electrolysis propulsion and interplanetary optical navigation to orbit the Moon. It was designed by
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, Ithaca, New York. *
Lunar Flashlight Lunar Flashlight is a low-cost CubeSat lunar orbiter mission to explore, locate, and estimate size and composition of water ice deposits on the Moon for future exploitation by robots or humans. The spacecraft, of the 6U CubeSat format, w ...
is a lunar orbiter that would seek exposed water ice and map its concentration at the scale within the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar south pole. Remanifested on Hakuto-R Mission 1 on a Falcon 9. * Earth Escape Explorer would demonstrate long-distance communications while in
heliocentric orbit A heliocentric orbit (also called circumsolar orbit) is an orbit around the barycenter of the Solar System, which is usually located within or very near the surface of the Sun. All planets, comets, and asteroids in the Solar System, and the Sun i ...
. It was designed by the
University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...
.


Media outreach

The Artemis 1 mission patch was created by NASA designers of the SLS, Orion spacecraft and Exploration Ground Systems teams. The silver border represents the color of the Orion spacecraft; at the center, the SLS and Orion are depicted. Three lightning towers surrounding the rocket symbolize Launch Complex 39B, from which Artemis 1 will launch. The red and blue mission trajectories encompassing the white full Moon represent Americans and people in the European Space Agency who work on Artemis 1. The Artemis 1 flight is frequently marketed as the beginning of Artemis's "Moon to Mars" program, though there is no concrete plan for a crewed mission to Mars within NASA as of 2022. To raise public awareness, NASA made a website for the public to get a digital boarding pass of the mission. The names submitted were written to a flash drive stored inside the Orion spacecraft. Also aboard the capsule is a digital copy of the 14,000 entries for the Moon Pod Essay Contest hosted by Future Engineers for NASA.


Gallery


See also

* List of Artemis missions


Notes


References


External links

* *
Artemis Real-time Orbit Website
NASA
Live Video Stream from the Artemis I Orion Spacecraft
{{Portal bar, Spaceflight Spacecraft launched in 2022 2022 in Florida Artemis program Orion (spacecraft) Space Launch System Missions to the Moon