The Moon is now far in the rearview mirror after a near-perfect spaceflight, but the crew of the Artemis II we’re not safe at home yet
By Lee Billings edited by Claire Cameron
From left: Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover and Commander Reid Wiseman, NASA. Artemis II The crew poses for a group photo with their “Rise” weightless indicator inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home.
NASA
NASA launched four astronauts on a pioneering journey around the Moon: the Artemis II assignment. Follow our coverage here.
Almost everything went as planned from NASA Artemis II assignmentthe first human trip beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.
Launched April 1this is the first crewed test flight of the space agency’s Space Launch System megarocket and Orion crew capsule. The four brave astronauts on board — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency — completed their historic lunar flyby five days later.
The biggest problem so far seems to have been the clogged toilets…the first to circle the moon. It has clogged several times and may be the source of a mysterious burning smell, turning the crew and mission controllers into part-time “space plumbers.”
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Yet now on the ninth day of their 10-day mission and as Earth appears larger in the spacecraft’s windows, the crew is faced with what could be a difficult return home. On Friday around 7:45 p.m. EDT, after releasing its bulky service module, the Orion capsule will plunge into our planet’s atmosphere at a projected speed of approximately 24,000 miles per hour.
Best case scenario, what follows will be 13 minutes of nerve-wracking tension, about half of which will be radio blackouts. As it falls, the spacecraft’s heat shield will withstand temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) before Orion slows down under parachutes to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California. There, a fleet of ships will be waiting to pick up the astronauts.
On the eighth day of Artemis II The astronauts’ journey showed no signs of concern. Fueled by a takeout menu of beef stew, chicken noodle soup and “cosmic” brownies, the crew’s activities included take a unique selfieperforming a final training session in space and testing compression garments intended to ease the physiological transition to Earth’s gravity.
Mission controllers chose to cancel the crew’s planned construction of a radiation shelter, explaining that most Artemis IIThe fundamental objectives of the European Union had already been demonstrated. A manual piloting demonstration was also canceled due to its potential interference with a pressurization test of part of the Orion spacecraft’s propulsion system.
In the evening, the astronauts spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, discussing the relative merits of Nutella versus maple syrup on pancakes, as well as their favorite wake-up songs of the mission.
The ninth day sees the astronauts once again very busy. Today, they are focused on configuring the Orion capsule for its return to Earth and carefully studying the planned re-entry procedures. As carefree as the crew and staff of Houston Ground Control may seem, they know all too well the high stakes of the impending return home.
“I’ve actually been thinking about entry since April 3, 2023, when we were assigned to this mission,” Glover said, Artemis IIThe pilot, when asked what he thought about the return during a press conference on Wednesday. “There are so many more images, so many more stories. And, God, I haven’t even begun to understand what we’ve been through. We still have two days left, and shooting a fireball through the atmosphere is profound, too.”
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