Artemis 1
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's Artemis program, Artemis 1 marked the agency's return to lunar exploration after the conclusion of the Apollo program five decades earlier. It was the first integrated flight test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and its main objective was to test the Orion spacecraft, especially its heat shield, 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 Space Launch System launches from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39B | |
| Names |
|
|---|---|
| Mission type | Uncrewed lunar orbital test flight |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2022-156A |
| SATCAT no. | 54257 |
| Website | www |
| Mission duration |
|
| Distance travelled | 1.3 million miles (2.1 million kilometers) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Orion CM-002 |
| Spacecraft type | Orion MPCV |
| Manufacturer | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | November 16, 2022, 06:47:44 UTC (1:47 am EST) |
| Rocket | Space Launch System Block 1 |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39B |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Portland |
| Landing date | December 11, 2022, 17:40:30 UTC (9:40:30 am PST) |
| Landing site | Pacific Ocean off Baja California |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Selenocentric |
| Regime | Distant retrograde orbit |
| Period | 14 days |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Spacecraft component | Orion |
| Closest approach | November 21, 2022, 12:57 UTC |
| Distance | 130 km |
| Moon orbiter | |
| Spacecraft component | Orion |
| Orbital insertion | November 25, 2022, 21:52 UTC |
| Orbital departure | December 1, 2022, 21:53 UTC |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Spacecraft component | Orion |
| Closest approach | December 5, 2022, 16:43 UTC |
| Distance | 128 km |
Artemis 1 mission patch | |
The Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1 was stacked on October 20, 2021, and 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 launched on November 16, 2022, at 06:47:44 UTC (01:47:44 EST).
Artemis 1 was launched from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. After reaching Earth orbit, the upper stage carrying the Orion spacecraft separated and performed a trans-lunar injection before releasing Orion and deploying ten CubeSat satellites. Orion completed one flyby of the Moon on November 21, entered a distant retrograde orbit for six days, and completed a second flyby of the Moon on December 5.
The Orion spacecraft then returned and reentered the Earth's atmosphere with the protection of its heat shield, 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, which is scheduled to perform a crewed lunar flyby no earlier than September 2025. After Artemis 2, Artemis 3 will involve a crewed lunar landing, the first in five decades since Apollo 17.